The Dark Days - El Lost
by SeouLee
Summary: When Ruben Village is preparing for an upcoming winter, it is faced with almost certain death after a group of thieves steal its El. Can the villagers trust a young boy and two visitors to go after the thieves, or are they doomed to die, with no help from anyone else? Pairings are as follows: Elsword x Aisha Raven x Rena Chung x Eve
1. Chapter 1

**Guess what. New story :P Actually, this is the first story I'm writing.. So, I'm pretty inexperienced with Fanfiction writing. AND, I suck at grammar~ Anyway, this should turn out to be interesting... hopefully.**

**Aisha: *teleports into room* Who're you. o-o**

**SL: SeouLee. Nice to meet ya! :D**

**Aisha: *ignores* Hey, what's this :O *points to story***

**SL: That's called a failed story attempt written by a middle schooler.**

**Aisha: Am I in it?**

**SL: Maybe.**

**Aisha: Cool. I'll rub this in everyone else's face. *teleports out of room***

**SL: o-o;**

**Aisha: *teleports back with Raven, Rena, Eve, Chung, Elsword, and Elsa***

**SL: o.o**

**Aisha: *points at SL* This kid's writing a story about me :DDD**

**Everyone else: *stares at SL***

**Raven: Why?**

**Elsword: Whoever is bothering to make a story about Aisha must be pretty darn stupid.**

**SL: D:**

**Aisha: WHAT.**

**Everyone else but SL and Aisha: *nods in agreement***

**SL: Merp. T_T Just read it first please? I know it'll probably suck, but I tried.**

**And... begin :P  
**

* * *

**The Dark Days - El Lost**

**Chapter 1: Lively**

(SKIP THE SIDE NOTE IF YOU PLAY ELSWORD)  
(Side note for those not informed about this topic: this world, named Elrios, is a diverse place quite  
different from the normal, modern civilization we live in today. Town names and cities used in this piece  
will mainly be Ruben Village, Elder Village, Bethma Village, Altera Island, Velder City, Feita, Hamel, etc.  
Note that "El" will be used frequently, as it is the source of most life in this world. "Nasod" will also make  
appearances in some places, as it is both a form of technology and a race. Magic, sword fighting, and  
elves are involved in this piece. Besides that, I think, there's not much else to cover.)

Life bustled in Ruben village as its inhabitants dashed around hastily with bundles of supplies. Winter was near, creeping along the edges of the forest that surrounded Ruben. Preparations had to be made, and provisions for the approaching season needed to be stored. The eccentric village chief, Hagus, watched over the mass of people, making sure that there were no laggards in this year's group. He grunted with approval, seeing nobody who needed help in readying for the winter. Despite the fact that Ruben Village was quite close to facing the wrath of cold, miserable weather, the village glowed, washed in the faint blue glow of the El that was tucked away safely in an enormous tree, deep within the forests of Ruben. Without this El, life would have been impossible to sustain in Ruben. The El's presence affected the course of life in its range; without it, nothing could possibly survive, because the El carried out a simple, albeit vital, function. Acting as a conductor for air, sound, and light, the El supported all life. Lack of El meant lack of sunlight to aid the growth of plants. It meant lack of wind or breathable air. It meant imminent death. Therefore, the possession of an El shard was crucial to the survival of any civilization.

Hagus started taking a stroll around Ruben, confident that the villagers were well prepared for the winter. Each family owned a surplus of crops that would most definitely last for a couple months. He passed by Anne, an amiable young lady who had dwelled in the village for all her life, giving her a kind smile. Anne waved in return, and called from her hut, "G'day Hagus! Ruben is as busy as ever, isn't it?"

"Darn right it is," Hagus chuckled. "Better to prepare for the winter before it comes, or we'll be through." Anne nodded solemnly and changed the topic.

"Did you meet the new visitors, by any chance?"

"Huh? Ruben has visitors?!" Hagus inquired, appalled.

"Yes - two of them, apparently separate. The first girl said that her name was Aisha; she had a wand and purple hair. The other one had long, smooth green hair… and pointed ears. And it looked like she was holding a bow... I think she told me that her name was Rena; I couldn't really catch it." Anne's eyes clouded with mist for a moment, before she returned to reality. "A magician and an elf... Our village hasn't seen anyone like those two for decades. But I'm surprised that you seemed shocked by this, Hagus. Haven't you heard any word of them on your way here?"

"'Fraid not," Hagus replied. He frowned. The town hadn't had any visitors in years. What could have driven these two new arrivals to Ruben? Before Hagus could ponder the matter any further, though, a loud thud resonated through the village.

* * *

**SL: There we go. Chapter one done. **

**Elsword: That was really short...**

**SL: Yeah, it was. However, Chapter 2 will be longer, I think.**

**Aisha: I wasn't even in there... I was only mentioned.. This sucks.**

**Elsa: Shut up, Aisha.**

**SL: I ****_did_**** say "maybe".**

**Raven: So like, this is really boring so far. Is it going to get any better?**

**SL: It should.. It's only the intro, anyway. I didn't even reach the conflict yet.**

**Rena: Well.. The way she ended the chapter was kind of weird...**

**Aisha: Yeah, who's the one creating chaos in the village now?**

***Everyone stares at Elsword***

**Elsword: Why do you automatically assume that it's me? o.o**

**Raven: It ****_is_**** your village..**

**Elsword: ...**

**SL: This is getting stupid now... *exits room***

**Rena: So I guess we wait until she uploads the next chapter?**

**Raven: Who knows how long she'll take.. She's in middle school for God's sake.**

**Everyone: *stares at the floor with nothing better to do***


	2. Chapter 2

**SL: So here I am with another chapter for my noob story :D**

**Aisha: The one where you said I would be in it, but I actually wasn't?**

**SL: Umm... I said maybe that time. Besides, you ****_will_**** be in it. Just** **wait!**

**Elsword: Noooo! Don't put her in a story! Her head will grow bigger than it already is! D:**

**Aisha: Why, you-**

**Raven: He speaks the truth.**

**Aisha: Raven, you too? :C**

**Raven: *shrugs and walks away***

**SL: o-o These people really don't know how to handle each other... Anyway, story begin~**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Enter Elsword**

Eyes wide, Hagus and Anne immediately turned toward the area that the noise had come from. Not far from Anne's hut, an enormous pine tree lay helplessly on the ground. Hiding behind the tree, a certain adolescent boy with fiery red hair peeked out from behind a few branches. Shock and guilt were prominently displayed in his expression as he made eye contact with the village chief. A bemused Hagus made his way over to the site of the fallen tree, and the red haired child ducked to hide behind the pine. Once he was there, Hagus sighed.

"Is that you, Elsword?" No answer came. "Seriously, boy, I know very well that you're there. Come out now." Slowly, but obediently, the young child emerged from his location behind the tree. He stared at the ground in shame. Hagus blinked.

"Now tell me, young man, what happened? Did you knock down this tree?"

"No! W-well, yes... Maybe," Elsword struggled to decide on an answer. Hagus lifted his eyebrow.

"Which is it?"

"I-" Elsword hesitated, then pointed to a certain spot on the tree which, to Hagus's surprise, bore a slight indentation. After Hagus finished examining the mark, Elsword searched the ground near the pine until he lifted a bulky red sword off the ground. Hagus looked from the sword to the indentation before asking,

"Did you just use _that_ to fell a tree older than Ruben itself?"

"Well... I was practicing swinging my sword and I hit the tree, and it got knocked down. That's all that happened," Elsword confirmed, regretting his dumb statement the moment he said it.

"Hmm..." Hagus stroked his beard and scrutinized the boy. Elsword shifted uncomfortably, detesting the extra attention he was receiving from the village chief. "How old are you, son?"

"Huh?" Elsword was taken aback by the sudden question.

"Your age, what is it?" Hagus inquired again.

"Er... Twelve, but I'm turning thirteen soon," Elsword replied, unable to decipher what the village chief was thinking.

"Well, I'll need to ask Lowe about this first..." Hagus thought aloud. Elsword's eyes immediately widened at the name of the village's drillmaster.

"Anne!" Hagus called. From her house, Anne, who had been watching the whole time, replied,

"Yes?"

"Would you get Lowe over here for me? I need him right now."

"Sure thing!" Anne complied. She dropped the bundle of supplies that she had been holding and dashed hastily toward the town's barracks. Elsword stared after her. A few minutes after she had disappeared from sight, Elsword dared to ask,

"W-Why do we need him?" Hagus glanced at Elsword for a second before turning his attention back to the direction that Anne had run off in. Grinning, he said,

"You'll see." Just then, Anne could be seen hurrying back toward Hagus and Elsword, Lowe just a few paces behind her. As he arrived, he scanned the area and looked over Elsword with a stern expression.

"Heard you needed me," Lowe said indifferently, without taking his eyes off of Elsword. "So why, exactly, am I here?"

"This matter involves him," Hagus gestured toward Elsword. Lowe opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by Hagus's raised hand. "Before you say anything, let me confirm this first. The age that a villager can test to become a knight is fifteen, correct?" Lowe nodded, then asked,

"Yet what age is this boy- Nine? Ten?"

"Hey!" Elsword exclaimed indignantly. "I'm not THAT young! Do I look-"

"Actually," Hagus interrupted, "Elsword is barely thirteen years of age. I know that he's obviously too young to become a knight by your standards, Lowe, but he carries a lot of potential."

"Oh?" Lowe lifted an eyebrow and scrutinized Elsword carefully. "What's so special about-" he stopped abruptly. He stared at Elsword, first at the unique, crimson-colored garments the boy wore, tattered from years of use. Then he moved his gaze upward, surprised by the same determined scarlet eyes and familiar fiery hair that reminded him of... _Elsa. He has to be the little sibling that she always mentioned... I suppose it's time for me to keep my promise now._ "Fine, I'll see what he can do and try to train him. That _doesn't_ guarantee that he'll become a knight." He signaled to Elsword to follow him, and Elsword tagged along behind Lowe, his sword firmly in his grip. From the corner of his eye, Lowe stared at the sword. _That sword, it looks identical to the one Elsa always used... I wonder if it's the same blade this boy carries..._

"Hmm..." Hagus, rooted to his spot next to the fallen tree, watched as Elsword and Lowe marched toward the village's training grounds. "I wonder if he noticed..." Hagus murmured to himself. Falling deep into his own thoughts, Hagus wondered aloud, "Where is Elsa now... Is she still alive?" _Does she know how determined he is to find her? The tree... I was waiting for Elsword to display some valid potential, so I'd have an excuse to make Lowe agree to take him. But he accepted the boy far sooner than I expected he would. I wonder, does Lowe know about Elsa's relation to Elsword?_

* * *

"Stop," commanded Lowe, stopping Elsword mid-swing as he was about to behead one of Ruben's training dummies. Scowling, Elsword looked up.

"What's wrong this time?" he complained. Lowe glared at him, and Elsword returned the stare. "You told me to attack the dummy, yet you've stopped me seven times now. _What_ do I keep doing wrong?" Lowe took his eyes off of Elsword and rested them on the dummy. Elsword reminded Lowe of Elsa in every way, from his physical appearance to his overconfidence and _especially_ his irksome, stubborn behavior. The only difference between the two, perhaps, was that Elsa never forgot to think before she attacked. Calculating and cunning, she had managed to defeat almost all of her opponents in the past.

"Indeed. What was wrong?" Lowe pretended to ponder sarcastically. "I told you to attack the dummy, and you charged up to it with the same brute force that one would use to kill a monster." He felt the boy's annoyed glower on him.

"So?" Elsword demanded, seeing no flaw with what he did. Lowe sighed, knowing already that there would be a lot to teach the boy.

"There are two main reasons you shouldn't use too much force. First of all, if you used that much strength on a mere straw dummy, you'd obviously spin out of control with a heavy blade like that. Then, the enemy could have a good chance to recover and deliver a possibly fatal blow to you while you're occupied. Second, using that much force will drain you of your energy far too quickly. If you were in a real battle situation, you'd die from exhaustion rather than from the blade of your enemy. Consider your opponent's strength at all times. If you overestimate their power, you'll waste your own energy but at the same time, if you underestimate them, they'll have a distinct advantage over you." Lowe paused. "Are those enough reasons for you, or should I keep going?" Elsword shook his head quickly.

"No, it's fine." Satisfied, Lowe said,

"Now continue." This time, Elsword swung his sword without interruption from the town's drillmaster. His movements were slightly more controlled, and Elsword measured every attack carefully, not desiring another lecture from Lowe.

Once the dummy was reduced to a pile a straw and wood, Lowe nodded his head in approval. "I think you get it now. Train the same way with the rest of the dummies on this field. I'll see you at dinner." _That boy may not know right now, but this task is one of my exams for knighthood... _Lowe thought to himself. _There's no way an inexperienced person can obliterate all those training dummies in only a few hours. If that boy can finish them all off by sundown, I suppose he'd be qualified to become a knight. If he can't, then he'll need years of more training, especially since eliminating all of the dummies was the easiest exam I could think of... I don't want to give that boy a task that's too dangerous, anyway. I promised Elsa..._ Lowe sighed. _When did knighthood exams become so simple?_

Elsword watched as Lowe left the training grounds, leaving him alone with a few hundred dummies, that he knew weren't going to be entertaining company. "He expects me to get rid of _all_ of these?" Elsword muttered. Sighing, he turned to face a dummy and he swung his sword, much more careful than he had been ten minutes before. He swung and stabbed endlessly, mercilessly wreaking havoc on each and every dummy within his sword's reach. Still, an hour later, most of them were unimpaired. "Ugh... I'll never be able to destroy all of these before dinner," Elsword huffed. "What to do..." He scanned the rest of the training ground around him, noting that no one was around to serve as a witness. "Alright then, let's take a little shortcut." Elsword smirked. He held still for a minute, focusing his entire mind into one attack. Breathing in deeply, Elsword slowly opened his eyes, and sprinted forward, slashing and hacking down every dummy that had survived his previous beating. He stabbed, slashed, and spun around, launching one assault after the other, until no dummy remained intact. Hunched over and panting from the excessive use of strength, Elsword leaned against the training ground's wall and slid down to the ground. _Man. Lowe was right. But still, they were dummies, not real enemies. It's not like they could suddenly pick up a sword and cut off my head or something. _Already, Elsword could spot a tinge of orange seeping slowly into the sky. It would probably be about an hour or two before the sun disappeared from the sky, and Elsword was ravenous from all his training efforts and the lecturing he received from Lowe. Stumbling as he rose up from the ground, Elsword grabbed his favorite ruby-red sword and hobbled out of the training grounds, impatient to eat the specialty of RubenVillage: baked cherry pie with a mug of apple cider. However, he arrived at the bar only to be disappointed.

"I'm sorry, young man, but we're sold out," the barkeeper apologized regretfully.

"_Sold out_?! _How_?" an exasperated Elsword exclaimed. "This place _never _runs out of cherry pie. Why now?" The barkeeper cleared his throat and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Apparently, Ruben's been getting a few visitors recently. A few days ago, two ladies showed up, and they've been staying in the village's inn, according to the conversations I've heard. Then today, a group of raucous men barged in here and devoured nearly all the food in our stock." The barkeeper lowered his voice to the point that Elsword almost couldn't hear him. "The men looked like a suspicious bunch, but they paid for all the food they took, so I couldn't say anything against them. Still, I wouldn't get anywhere near them if I were you." Elsword nodded wearily, still pretty miffed by the fact that he couldn't get any cherry pie.

"Isn't there _something_ I can eat?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, there's always our fish stew," the barkeeper offered.

"I'll take it," Elsword accepted, already hearing his stomach rumbling.

Ten minutes later, Elsword was just finishing his third bowl of stew when a commotion began. He heard the shouts of numerous men and the pounding of feet just outside the bar.

"What the..." Elsword stood up out of his chair, his eyes widening in confusion. He ran to the counter, his sword in his right hand, and tossed a few coins at the barkeeper. "Thanks for the meal! I gotta go!" Elsword called over his shoulder.

Once he shot outside the door, Elsword was faced with uncertainty. Dozens of men hurried past him, all of them heading into the forest. Elsword surveyed the scene as they disappeared into the trees.

"W-what..." Elsword was befuddled.

"T-they, the men," Hagus arrived, panting and out of breath. "A group of bandits arrived today, and-" he gasped, still having difficulty catching his breath. "One of our scouts spotted a few of them near the Tree of El. He said that they-" Hagus paused to take in a deep breath. "They were all carrying weapons, and they were hacking through all the plants trying to look for something. I-I think they're after the El," Hagus finished speaking, still exhausted from running through the village. Elsword stared at the village chief in the eye.

"I'm going after them too," he announced. Hagus eyed him warily.

"You shouldn't, boy. Leave it to Lowe and the other knights. You're far too young to be chasing after bandits. Plus, they're armed; they could kill you if you give them a reason to. Don't do it." Elsword glowered at Hagus with a fiery determination in his eyes.

"I don't care what anyone says. People are trying to steal Ruben's El. What'll happen to all of us here if it's taken away?! I'm not gonna just stand here and do nothing." Hagus considered the situation carefully.

"Then, at least let us make a search party for the El," Hagus insisted. "Don't go off by yourself. Please." Elsword observed the uneasiness in the village chief's eyes.

"Fine," Elsword agreed reluctantly. "But quickly. We don't know how much time there is."

* * *

_Hmm... It's awfully quiet there._ Lowe noted, regarding the barracks located in close proximity to his hut. He finished scribbling the notes he had been writing on a piece of parchment, then capped his ink bottle and placed his quill pen on the wooden table. Stretching and groaning, Lowe shook off his drowsiness from hours of writing. He rolled up the piece of parchment and stuffed it into a pack on the table and strode out the door of his hut. As he approached the entrance to the training barracks, Lowe strained his ears to hear any sound that he could. _It's too quiet. I don't hear anything coming from there. What is that boy doing?_ Stepping into the training field, Lowe's eyes widened at the sight of every training dummy battered and broken, tattered and torn, reduced to a pile of hay and splintered wood. He whistled, impressed. _That boy is far more skilled than I thought. I have to admit, he certainly is knight material, just like his sister... _Lowe looked around. _Only, where is he? Don't tell me he left to eat._ He was interrupted by the pounding of someone's feet as he or she came closer to the barracks. Lowe looked up in time to see Elsword barging in through the barrack doors, still clutching his sword. Opening his mouth to speak, Lowe was about to commend Elsword on passing the exam, but stopped when he heard the boy's ragged breathing and noticed the distress in his expression.

"Lowe! We don't have time!" Elsword practically shouted. "The El's going to be stolen and we have to make a search party, _now_!" Lowe stood there dumbstruck, and Elsword grew more aggravated. "Don't just _stand_ there! Do something!" As he said that, Lowe recovered from his shock and nodded firmly.

"Right, since we need an El search party, I'll bring my three top knights and you."

"Huh?" Elsword nearly fell over. "Why me? I'm not even a knight yet!" Lowe smirked.

"You are now. You passed your exam," Lowe pointed his thumb behind him at the annihilated dummies. "Now hurry. Get whatever equipment you might need and meet me at the entrance to RubenForest." Elsword processed this and responded,

"I'll go there right now. This is all I need anyways," Elsword lifted his sword. He bolted out of the barracks and made his way back to the forest entrance. Lowe grunted and hurried to his own hut to retrieve his armor and equipment. He raced to three other homes, alerting his knights that lived there of the thieves and commanding them to meet him at the forest entrance.

* * *

**SL: And that's all there is to chapter 2...**

**Elsword: Why'd you put me in your dumb story?**

**Aisha: Stop complaining! At least you're ****_in_**** it! I don't even get a part qq**

**SL: That hurt, Elsword... Anyway, you WILL be in it Aisha. Probably next chapter. I think Rena will be in the next one too ;D**

**Rena: Really?! I'm HONORED to be in a story written by a little kid! *sarcasm***

**SL: :C Meanies...**

**Elsa: Oh hey, Lowe compared Elsword to me? That's kind of depressing...**

**Elsword: Hey! D: Watch what you're saying...**

**Elsa: I think I can say whatever I want around a dumb little brother like you. *sticks tongue out***

**Elsword: You... *draws sword***

**Elsa: Heh.. So it begins. *holds her blade in from of her***

**SL: O_O You guys are ****_siblings_****, not enemies! Who ****_raised_**** you?**

**Elsword: My sister.**

**Elsa: No one. *gets into ready stance***

**Raven: You might want to get out of here before they start...**

**SL: ... *runs out of the room***


	3. Chapter 3

**SL: Guess what.**

**Elsword: Chapter 3?**

**SL: How'd you know? owo**

**Elsword: Predictable as always...**

**SL: *faces Rena and Aisha* You're in this chapter :D**

**Aisha: FINALLY. IT ONLY TOOK YOU LIKE 5 MILLION YEARS.**

**SL: I know. I try. :P**

**Rena: Oh god.. I'm going to be put into a little kid's story :O Don't kill me off plox o-o;;**

**SL: o-o ... I hate killing characters off...**

**Rena: Whew.**

**Raven: You know, even if she doesn't get rid of you, I still can :D**

**Rena: Nope. *Draws bow and nocks an arrow***

**SL: Oh god... not this again.**

**Chapter start~**

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Knight, the Mage, and the Elf**

An hour earlier, a certain girl had been dining at Ruben's inn. Aisha placed her spoon on the table and pulled her hair into two short pigtails, annoyed that it kept falling into her face. She picked her spoon back up and dug furiously into her meal, which happened to be fish stew with a warm loaf of buttery bread. Finished too soon, Aisha sighed, wishing she didn't have to ration the money she spent, carefully. _If only I could use magic to make some food appear... _Aisha thought wistfully. _Being able to shoot fireballs out of my hand and teleport a few yards doesn't really change the fact that I'm starving._ She stood up out of her chair and paid the innkeeper for the meal. _I'd better get ready to travel to another town now. There really isn't anything in Ruben that'd help me get stronger anyways..._ Aisha meditated on the events of the past few months on her way out of the inn, getting more irritated with them the more she looked back at them. In fact, she was irritated to the point that she didn't notice when she started ranting out loud.

"Stupid ring. If it wasn't for it, I'd still be as powerful as I was before and I wouldn't have had all my magic abilities drained." Aisha scowled, oblivious to the stares of the villagers in the inn. "If it wasn't for that ring, I wouldn't have had to start over all the way from the beginning!"

"Umm... Excuse me, young lady, but do you need help? Are you... okay?" the innkeeper questioned with a concerned look in her eyes. Aisha looked up.

"Huh?"

"You were sort of talking to yourself there for a moment," the innkeeper explained carefully. Suddenly, Aisha noticed all the stares directed at her, and she blushed.

"Oh... Sorry. I'm fine," Aisha answered hastily before hurrying to get out of the inn. Once she was outside, Aisha took a deep breath. _Oh god, what did I say in there?_ Aisha glanced at the inn behind her shoulder. _They must have thought I was insane or something..._ Before she could worry too much about the matter though, a small gathering of people attracted her attention. Past the last few houses of the village, less than ten figured were huddled together, looking as if they were having a discussion...

* * *

"Okay, so here's the deal," Lowe eyed all four men in front of him. "Since Ruben's forest is way too large for us to explore together, we'll split up and search different areas of it. I'll assign certain sections of the forest to all of you. Once you're done checking through that part, return here and report anything you saw, got it?" All heads nodded in agreement. "Elsword, are you fine searching by yourself, or should I get someone to help you?" Elsword shook his head.

"I'm fine." Lowe looked at him carefully.

"Okay, then. Now, I'll give you your sections." He unrolled a map that he had been holding and showed it to his top knight, Aidan. "Aidan, you're going to investigate this section." Lowe pointed to a large expanse of land in the north-western region of RubenForest. "Can you handle that?"

"'Course I can," Aidan answered dutifully.

"Good. Now, Matthew." Lowe angled his map toward the other knight on his right and traced a circle on the map with his index finger. "You're going to take care of this north-eastern part of the forest." Matthew inclined his head and inspected his equipment to make sure he was definitely prepared.

"And Levi, you'll look around in the southernmost region."

"Aye commander," Levi responded, grateful that the southern region was a small area to touch upon.

"Finally, Elsword," Lowe shifted his solemn gaze onto the boy. "I'm trusting you with the central part of RubenForest. It isn't easy to lose your way in this area; in fact, it's easier for an amateur archer to shoot a fly out of the air than for you to get lost in this place. That way, I don't have to worry about you disappearing in the forest forever." Elsword glared at the other knights, who were currently trying to stifle their laughs. _They think I can't do anything, as if I'm a hopeless, little kid._ He huffed, and returned his attention back to Lowe.

"... and that's that. I'll be skirting around the edges of your assigned areas, so I can help you if you run into any trouble. Does anyone need another explanation on what we're doing?" No one said a word. "Good, now let's move." Lowe concluded. Aidan, Matthew, Levi, and Elsword all scrambled into Ruben Forest, rushing to get to their assigned sections and search for any sign of the thieves. Lowe watched, then bounded into the forest as well, ready to catch whoever was trying to take the El.

* * *

Aisha kept her eyes on the figures near the forest entrance, intrigued when they entered the forest. _Weren't there rumors about an El shard hidden somewhere in there?_ Aisha summoned her wand and it appeared in her hand. _Whatever's going on in there has to be more exciting than what's happening in the village._ She darted toward the forest entrance clutching her wand, ready to use it in case of an emergency.

Passing through the underbrush and carefully making her way between the trees, Aisha wandered throughout the forest, looking for anything that might arouse her interest. Little did she notice that the faint, blue light - which always surrounded RubenVillage - grew more intense, the deeper she ventured into the forest. Nor did she notice the bright, emerald eyes that studied her from above.

* * *

Rena observed the girl passing below the tree that she was hidden in. The girl's purple hair swayed from side to side, in its little pigtails, as she advanced further into the woods. The staff that the girl held immediately indicated to Rena that this girl was a magic-user of some sort, perhaps a mage. _First that group of soldiers, and now this girl?_ Rena gazed into the deeper section of the woods. _I've never seen people wander into this forest before. I wonder what could be going on..._ With the purple-haired mage out of sight, Rena leapt down to the ground from her tree and strung the bow she always carried with her. She flipped her light, green hair back and tucked it behind her pointed ears. Swiftly and silently, Rena raced through the forest, grinning with excitement, unsure of what to expect.

Before long, Rena neared the edges of a small, isolated clearing. She was just about to step in the clearing when she tensed. _Wait. Other people are here. I can sense them._ Stealthily, she snuck behind a bush, praying that her presence wouldn't be discovered. Hearing footsteps coming closer to her, Rena held her breath and kept still, doing her best to stay hidden.

"If this plan works, we'll be filthy rich!" a man's deep voice bellowed enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah I get it. Don't get so excited," someone replied, sounding bored.

"Are you absolutely sure you understand the plan?" the man with the deep voice asked worriedly. "Let's go over it one more time." Rena riskily shifted her position so she could peer through the bush at the people she was listening to. She instantly spied two, buff men: one with dark, disheveled hair and a beard, and one completely bald. Though, when Rena moved her eyes to the right, she almost gasped. A third man stood towering over the other two men. His copper-colored hair did little to hide the scars that covered his entire face and his missing eye. The man's bulging muscles did nothing but intimidate Rena, especially since she was just beyond an arm's length away from his reach. While Rena took in all of this, the bald man sighed and said,

"Okay, okay. So while we run around the forest with the El from RubenVillage and distract the search party, you'll grab the humungous one from the Tree of El unnoticed. Right, Banthus?" The heavily muscled man, who seemed to be Banthus, growled,

"No, that's not right! The village doesn't have an El shard, you moron. Its El is somewhere in this forest! I heard that its El was split into two pieces a while ago, but both are kept in a gigantic tree. I said, our goal is to find this tree and steal the larger piece of El. So to do that, you two will take the smaller El shard and distract the search party while I move the larger shard out of this forest. Got it now?"

"Got it," both men responded, irked by the fact that they had to be decoys for their leader.

"Excellent. Let's move, boys!" Banthus shouted. The three men shot through the woods in search of the great El tree. Rena breathed deeply and tried to calm her racing heartbeat. _Stealing the shard from the Tree of El? What do I do...?_ Rena pushed herself off the ground and dusted a few leaves and dirt particles off her skirt. She looked in the direction Banthus and his two comrades ran off in. _I can't let this happen. I'll find the search party and alert them. But... which way do I go?_ Rena strained her ears. She listened for footsteps, a voice, any sound. Keeping still and as silent as possible, Rena waited. She heard a faint yell from the distance and eagerly scrambled toward the direction the noise had come from. _I have to hurry, before those thieves get away..._

* * *

Panting, Elsword slowed to a slow walk, pausing to take a swig of water from the water skin he had brought with him. _Damn... Where did those guys go?_

"Oh, great! I can't believe that RubenVillage sent a little boy after us!" A voice laughed far behind Elsword. Elsword spun around to see two men - one with unkempt hair and an ugly beard, another who was completely bald - sneering at him a few yards away.

"Gotcha!" Elsword said despite the fact he didn't exactly catch the men yet, and that he was clearly outnumbered by the two thieves. "Now you can either give up the El shard, or I can take it from you." The bald bandit snorted.

"That's cute, kid. You're welcome to try." He reached into a large pack he was holding and pulled out a shimmering, azure stone the size of a watermelon. "Want this?" Elsword fumed, getting ready to charge at the man. The bald thief stuffed the El stone into his pack and turned. "Catch us if you can!" He taunted over his shoulder. Enraged, Elsword tried to follow, but tripped over a tree root on the ground.

"Oof!" he wheezed. Elsword rose from the ground unsteadily and brushed himself off. _Stupid... I let them get away._ He turned his head to the direction the bandits ran off in and advanced, though this time more cautiously, with the intention of avoiding falling again.

When the tree roots were less in the way and a clear path could be made out, Elsword sprinted through the forest, determined to find the insolent men and bash their faces in for both stealing the El and mocking him. He continued without any break or pause in his gait. A frightened shout halted Elsword in his tracks.

"Help, Boss! Something huge and hairy is heading this way!" a man cried out. Elsword gasped. _That's them._ He started dashing again and poured on the speed, ignoring the scratches he received from several shrubs on the path. Only one thing mattered at the moment, and that was retrieving the El. Racing through the trees, his sword held tightly in his right hand, Elsword persisted, never slowing his pace.

"Ack! No!" The shout seemed to come from a clearing up ahead. Elsword kept going, rushing to reach the clearing. Right before the clearing, however, the two thieves lay on the ground, battered and bruised. Elsword slowed to a stop, huffing, and he looked down at them, eyes narrowed. Planting his foot on the chest of the bald man and holding his blade near the face of the other, Elsword stared at their frightened expressions.

"Give. Me. The. El," he demanded. The bearded man croaked,

"We don't have it!" Elsword moved his blade closer to the face of the thief. "I swear, some big furry monster attacked us and took it! It went over there!" the man cried desperately, pointing toward the clearing. Elsword glowered at him, trying to detect any sign of a lie. Finding none, he finally withdrew from the bandits and gazed past the trees. Keeping his eyes there, Elsword muttered,

"Pathetic. What group of third-rate bandits are you guys, to have what you stole taken right from you?" He glanced at the two men, noting that they were in no condition to get up and fight. _Alright, time to go see what that thing is..._ Elsword sprinted toward the clearing, pushing past every tree until he stumbled through the opening. "What the..."

It was enormous, almost as tall as the trees themselves. It was covered in dark, ragged hair, all over its body. Its blood-red eyes glowed as it turned to stare down at Elsword. Elsword faltered. _It's not a normal monster. It looks more like the pictures of demons I've seen in storybooks..._ He shook his head, and looked straight at the creature.

"Stop right there. Where's the El shard?" The beast snorted and, to Elsword's surprise, growled,

"Mm? They sent a kid after the El? Sorry, little man, but this piece of El is staying with me. Back off or I'll eat your face." Elsword stared daggers at the demon.

"Pft. You have got to be kidding. That El shard is a village heirloom, and no wolfman wannabe is gonna take it away!" Elsword charged the beast. "Take this!" he yelled, raising his sword.

* * *

A yell. A thud. Silence. Aisha flicked her head up. _What was that?!_ Another yell.

"Take this!" _...Eh? Sounds like a fight. _Aisha squinted, making out a clearing in the distance. A dark shape shifted in the clearing. "Pft. You have got to be kidding. That El shard is a village heirloom, and no wolfman wannabe is gonna take it away!" _Oh? Is that a kid's voice? This I have to see! _Aisha gripped her wand tightly and hurried through the woods toward the dark shape, eager to discover what it was. Twenty yards. Ten yards. Five. Aisha burst into the clearing, stopping abruptly when she saw it; it was hideous - demon-like - and its dirty, mangled fur bristled as the beast shook with frenzy. But the creature convulsed with even more rage was not the beast, but a small, fiery-haired boy. His eyes blazed with animosity toward the gargantuan demon. Aisha looked from the tiny boy to the hideous thing. The beast growled.

"Not bad, boy, but it's going to take a lot more to beat me." It swatted the boy back a few yards.

"Oof!" The red-head instantly got up and hefted his sword. Aisha scoffed, still unnoticed by the beast or the boy.

"Check this kid out. What a character," she muttered under her breath. "This might be none of my business, but I can't just stand here and do nothing." Aisha rushed toward the demon and raised her staff. For a split second, she skimmed through her mind. _What were the words again... Oh, right. Duh._ "Veni, poena fulminis," Aisha breathed, pointing her staff directly at the demon. Immediately, a potent bolt of lightning arced from the tip of her staff and hit the beast.

"Argh!" it roared. "Who dares?!"

"Aisha, magician extraordinaire, at your service," Aisha replied sarcastically. Her tone changed quickly, however, and she scolded, "You chose the wrong place to start a fight, monster!"

"What's with all these children?" the beast hissed. "This is not your concern, little one. Leave us, or die!" Aisha's eyes flared in anger.

"Come on! I'm not a kid, I'm just short! I'm still more than you can handle, anyway!" She ran behind the demon and waved her wand, shooting three consecutive fireballs at it. The demon howled, and attempted, in vain, to maintain an intimidating air.

"Hah... You guys are hilarious. You can keep this El for now, but we'll meet again. Count on it." The demon dropped an El stone, barely the size of a watermelon, on the ground, and escaped. The red-haired boy, who had been facing the front of the beast, stared at the retreating beast, yet unaware of Aisha's presence.

"What the... Gone?"

"I hope so," Aisha directed at the boy. "You're lucky that I came by when I did. My name's Aisha."

"Man! I almost had him..." the boy muttered to himself, ignoring Aisha.

"Ha... No need to thank me for saving your sorry butt," Aisha chuckled with an annoyed grin painted on her face. "I'm a magician from the south, by the way."

"Well, at least the El shard is recovered. I have to get this to the village," Elsword continued talking to himself, somehow still oblivious to Aisha.

"..." Aisha stood motionless, having nothing to say to the boy. Elsword looked up, and noticed her for the first time.

"Hey, who are you?" he interrogated. "Don't tell me, you want the El shard too! You want a piece of me?!" Aisha fumed.

"You idiot! I've been talking to you! Listen when people are talking!"

* * *

Rena was just about to stop when she heard another yell. "You idiot!" _A girl? Good. Maybe she can tell me where the search party is._ Rena pushed forward, reaching a clearing similar to the one she had seen the bandits in. There, she spotted a little boy with fiery-red hair and a young girl with violet hair. Both of them were trembling, looking... annoyed? The boy spoke first.

"Why did you hit me?!" The girl twisted a wand she was holding around in her hands.

"You need some manners when you approach a lady!" She glared at the boy. Rena stood several feet away from them, shifting her weight onto her right foot and crossing her arms. _I wonder... Should I wait for them to finish or speak now?_

"Lady?! What lady?" the boy retorted. "I only see a tomboy!" Rena smiled awkwardly and took a few steps toward the two children.

"Hey... there~" she giggled nervously. The girl yelled at the boy,

"Oh my God. Tomboy?! Are you kidding me, you stupid bed-wetting kid?"

"Hey..." Rena tried again.

"Who're you calling kid?!" the boy demanded. "You're no older than I am. You're probably still using a training bra."

"... You. You've got some nerve!" the girl quivered, her expression murderous. The boy scoffed,

"You started it."

"Shut up."

"Stop it! Stop shouting you obnoxious kids!" Rena exploded. They both went silent. The boy and girl flicked their gazes toward Rena, startled. "Umm... Yes, well," Rena cleared her throat, at the same time noting the girl's magenta attire and the boy's crimson uniform, with a badge of one of Ruben's knights. "Your badge... you're one of the knights from the El search party, aren't you?" The boy nodded. "But, you're just a boy?"

"And who the heck are you?" the boy inquired.

"Ah, I'm Rena from ElfVillage," Rena's normal grin returned to her face. "I overheard a bunch of thugs planning to steal the shard from the Tree of El."

"What?" The boy's eyes widened. "Those jerks! Still eyeing the El? I'll see about that..." He started to run.

"And then," Rena continued, but he already left. "Whoa! I haven't even finished... There he goes." She sighed. The purple-haired girl stepped toward Rena.

"What a dweeb," she uttered. "Knew it from the first time I laid eyes on him."

"Do you know him?" Rena looked at the girl quizzically.

"No! And I don't give a flying fig about what happens to him. I helped the guy out and he started trippin'. He called me an annoying tomboy."

"Yes, yes," Rena smiled awkwardly. _She's a bit melodramatic..._

"Ugh! I'm so pissed right now. I'm going to give that kid a piece of my mind. Oh... Did you need something, though?" the girl asked. Rena shook her head. "Okay. The name's Aisha, by the way. Let's go, right now." She grabbed Rena's hand and dragged her toward the direction the boy had gone off to.

"Let. Go. Of. My. Hand," Rena said, slightly irritated. Aisha quickly let go, and stalked down the path that most likely led to Ruben Village, with Rena following closely behind her.

* * *

**SL: And... that's chapter 3.**

**Rena: Cool. Aisha and Elsword are their weird selves as usual.**

**Elsword and Aisha: D:**

**Elsword: She whacked me in the head...**

**Aisha: You deserved it. =.=**

**Elsword: Shut up.**

**Rena: Now, now...**

**SL: This is starting to look like the story... o-o**

**Raven: *looks bored* Am I going to be in this?**

**SL: Yeah, I guesso, if I get that far. It's gonna take me a while though.**

**Raven: How long? o.o**

**SL: Well... It took me about a month (three weeks) to get these three chapters done and edit them..**

**Raven: Childspeed. **

**Rena: Indeed.**

**SL: So I'll probably update this in... a week? Two weeks? A month? Depends if I want to post three chapters or one chapter at a time.**

**Oh, and I didn't state this before, but please review anything that you think might need improvement. (If you have the time)**

**Andddddd, in case anyone noticed, **

**1. Yes, I did use some dialogue from the game tutorials (I liked them actually, they only needed to be altered a little bit)**

**2. I did use Latin for Aisha's incantation or spell. It seemed fitting that she would say something when she used magic. I _did_ want to use Korean for her incantations, since this game was made in Korea, but I figured it would sound a little... awkward. (Veni, poena fulminis means Come, punishment of lightning [or bolt])**

**3. There probably aren't two shards of El in the actual story line; I just wanted to add that in there :P**


	4. Chapter 4

**SL: HI.**

**Aisha: Oh hey, you're back o3o**

**SL: YUP.**

**Elsword: Are you... high?**

**SL: I'm high on happiness~~~ and sugar.**

**Elsword: Uh huh... o-o;**

**SL: Normally, I take a week to write a story and to edit it, but I decided to rush this one and get it posted asap.**

**Elsword: Why? o.o**

**SL: Because I'm happy. I'M EXPLODING WITH JOY BECAUSE OF THE REVIEWS THIS STORY GOT :DDD**

**Elsword: orly.**

**SL: Yeah, and I'm going to break my face soon from grinning like an idiot, so I'll start the story now.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: And so it Began**

"Lowe!" Elsword panted, his footsteps pounding to a stop just outside RubenForest. The drillmaster and three knights shifted their gazes forlornly to Elsword. Elsword faltered. "What's wrong?" Lowe sighed.

"They took it."

"What?" Elsword asked, confused.

"The El... That gang of thieves got away with it," Lowe hung his head in shame. "It'll only be about an hour before all the power from the El fades from the village. Then, it's the end of all of us." Elsword gaped at Lowe, his expression one of complete disbelief. Then, he shook his head to clear it.

"Wait! What about this, then?" Elsword presented a smooth, azure stone. It glowed faintly, washing the five men (or four men and a boy) in a surreal, blue light. Lowe's eyes widened to the size of cantaloupes.

"Where'd you get that?!" he gasped.

"Well, some idiots were trying to get away with this, but I took it back from them," Elsword explained. "But then, some annoying girl showed up and yelled at me for nothing," he continued. "An elf came by too... I don't know what she wanted though." Elsword pouted, currently oblivious to the stares of the knights around him.

"Elsword... That isn't the El that got taken away," Lowe said carefully. Now it was Elsword's turn to be surprised.

"What?! What do you mean?" Elsword demanded. "I took this back from the people that were trying to steal it! It _is_ an El stone, isn't it?" Lowe pondered over how he would explain to Elsword.

"Yes, that is an El shard... but haven't you ever seen Ruben's El?" he asked.

"No," Elsword mumbled. "RubenForest is usually off-limits to kids, remember?"

"Ah, that's right," Lowe realized. "You see, the reason why the stone you're holding can't be the El that protects Ruben is because Ruben's El is about the size of... my hut." Elsword's jaw dropped.

"Then, what's this?" he inclined his head down to the shimmering stone he held, now scrutinizing it more carefully.

"That, you'll have to ask Hagus about," Lowe said slowly. "However, this is not the time to be worrying about the El you're holding. The one that's been protecting this village is gone, and we'll need to find _some_ way to keep the villagers... alive."

"Wait," Elsword interrupted, noticing an important point. "If Ruben's El is as huge as you say it is, how could it have disappeared? I mean, wouldn't it take a while to move that thing out of the forest? How would the thieves be able to take it away in less than an hour?"

"I - I don't know," Lowe admitted regretfully. "We'll discuss this matter later, _if_ we find a way to survive. For now, take the El you retrieved to Hagus. It may serve some use." Elsword nodded, about to depart, when he heard footsteps pounding behind him. Whipping around, he faced Rena and... the other one.

* * *

Finally, Aisha and Rena made it out of the forest. It was too bad that there were about four other knights right outside the exit of Ruben Forest, because if it weren't for their presence Aisha would have bashed the stupid red-head's face in. She glared at the kid as soon as he turned around, and he scowled right back at her.

"What're you doing here?" the red-head spat out. "We have no time for annoying tomboys." Aisha huffed, exceptionally irritated by his verbal assaults, but she fought to keep herself under control, especially since she was standing right in front of four adults. Rena, on the other hand, seemed to not have noticed the tension between the boy and Aisha.

"So... What's going on here?" she inquired, directing the question to no one in particular. A weary-eyed man with taupe-colored hair and the standard uniform of a high-ranking official answered.

"Ruben's El is stolen." His voice sounded indifferent, but underneath that indifference, Aisha, who was now listening to him, heard a tinge of regretfulness and worry.

"Umm, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't that little kid bring back the El?" Aisha asked, thoroughly confused as to why the man could be so glum.

"Well... You're right, but at the same time, you're wrong," he replied. Aisha blinked. That answer _totally_ made sense. Not.

"Er, what do you mean by that?" she probed, not confident that she'd get a clear answer. The man shook his head, clearly exasperated.

"There's too much to cover right now, and we don't have much time. I'll answer your questions later, young lady. For now, I want you and the other girl to stay at the Inn. This is an emergency case, so I suggest you go there if you want to stay alive. As for the rest of you," the man turned to address his comrades, "Elsword, change of plans. I want you to take that El to the Inn. I'll send Hagus there so you can explain what happened, to him and these two ladies." The boy, whose name was apparently Elsword, didn't look too happy about this, but he didn't object. "The rest of you will help me alert the village about the stolen El," the man stated, obviously not willing to take no as an answer. "We need to get everyone to the Inn. Got that?"

"Yes, Lowe," the three other knights responded obediently.

"Good. We all know what we're doing. Let's move." Lowe glanced at Elsword, Aisha, and Rena one last time before he led his three knights into the village. Sighing, Elsword turned to Aisha and Rena.

"Well," he spoke, not bothering to look at Aisha in the eye, "I guess I need to take you guys to the Inn." He shifted the same luminescent blue stone that Aisha spotted him picking up in the forest and motioned toward the village. "Let's go." He started to walk away. Aisha reluctantly trailed behind him, and Rena followed suit.

As they were walking, Elsword surprised Aisha by asking, "So, what was your name again?" Aisha looked up from the worn dirt path she had been mindlessly staring at.

"Huh?"

"Your name," Elsword looked at her from over his shoulder. "I need _something_ to call you. I know that other lady's name is Rena. What's yours? Actually, I guess you don't have to tell me your name since I could call you an annoying tomboy instead." At this, Aisha gritted her teeth and replied stiffly,

"Aisha. My name's Aisha and you will _not_ call me anything else." Elsword scoffed.

"Whatever." He turned his attention to Rena and asked, "So both of you are visitors to Ruben, right?" Rena nodded absent-mindedly, seeming to be too absorbed in her own thoughts. Nevertheless, Elsword interrogated, "But what brought you here? Ruben's a small village. There isn't that much to see." Aisha shrugged.

"I don't know. I've been traveling around to-" She hesitated for a brief second. "-to improve my skills, I guess." Elsword seemed to consider this for a moment before muttering,

"You must have done some decent training to be so skilled at ticking people off." Aisha gripped her staff tightly and averted her gaze elsewhere, ignoring his last comment. As irksome as Elsword was, now wasn't the time to argue with a kid. She made a mental note to whack him in the face after the village's crisis was over.

* * *

At last, the three of them approached the Inn. Rena cast a wary glance at both Aisha and Elsword; they had been completely silent the last five minutes of the walk, and this worried her, especially since the final exchange between them had been a mild insult from Elsword. Elsword himself seemed fine, at least better than Aisha, who was holding her wand with a firm grip and glowering at the ground. Rena almost laughed._ Children... They're so funny when they fight. These two remind me of myself when I was their age._ Elsword lifted a hand to knock on the inn's door, but the door swung open before he could, and the innkeeper stepped outside, looking agitated.

"_More_ people?" she exclaimed indignantly, running her fingers through her graying hair. "What's going on? Why is practically _half_ the village crammed in my inn?" She moaned, looking past Elsword and his company. Rena turned to see roughly forty people in the distance, racing frantically toward the Inn. The innkeeper stared helplessly at the incoming group. "That's the rest of the villagers... Would anyone _please_ bother to explain to me what's going on?"

"Ellie, that's enough for now," a gruff voice commanded. Stepping out of the inn, the man who had spoken eyed the innkeeper and the new company.

"B-but," the innkeeper protested.

"Enough is enough. We'll sort this out sooner or later."

"But, Hagus!" the innkeeper whined. The man, Hagus, cut her off with a stern expression. Ellie cowered for a moment and she shuffled back into the Inn, mumbling a few incoherent words to herself. Hagus sighed and faced Elsword, Aisha, and Rena with a cheerless smile. Scratching his dark beard, he examined the three carefully. His eyes rested on Elsword, and he seemed to relax slightly.

"So you made it back safely. Thank Lady El," Hagus breathed in relief. "Now come in, all of you. And Elsword, I believe you have quite a few things to tell me." Elsword looked up at him and nodded. Hagus motioned them inside before asking, "Ah, Aisha and Rena, correct?" Rena blinked.

"Yes. How did you know?" Hagus chuckled, his eyes lighting up for the first time since she saw him.

"Well, I couldn't call myself the village chief if I didn't know what went on in the village, especially the arrival of new visitors.

"Oh," was all Rena could say. "I see." _So this man is the village chief._

"Well, it's best that we don't stay outside, so come on in!" Hagus insisted. Aisha didn't argue, hurrying into the warm Inn with Rena right on her tail. Inside, Elsword, Rena, and Aisha were greeted by sullen faces. _That innkeeper wasn't exaggerating when she said, "half the village"._ Rena scanned the room, certain that there had to be about thirty, maybe forty people in here. Another bunch was coming, soon, and there would be close to no space for anyone. Fortunately, Ruben Village did not have many inhabitants. With a population of less than a hundred people, Ruben held the record in Elrios for being one of the least populated areas. The door opened, allowing the last group of villagers in. Filing in sluggishly, they eyed the people that crowded the too-small Inn warily. From the corner of her eye, Rena spotted a child - probably no older than four years of age - bawling.

"Where's Daddy?" she begged. "I want Daddy here, now!" The child continued throwing a fit.

"Shh... Quiet," a woman, who Rena presumed to be the mother, scolded quietly. "You're disturbing the other people here." The girl quieted down a bit, still sniffling, and she clutched her mother's dress and buried her face against it. Rena couldn't help but smile sadly, feeling a tinge of sympathy for the child.

"Ahem," Hagus cleared his throat. Every person in the room turned their head toward the village chief. "Yes, well, thank you for coming here under such short notice," Hagus addressed everyone. "I know this is a bit of a shock to you all, and I would be lying if I said this event didn't surprise me either." He paused to look at Elsword and said, "Many of you, if not all of you, are probably wondering why we are all gathered together here... Well, I regret to say that the El has been stolen." A collective gasp was heard around the room, and the villagers began to murmur among themselves. "Wait!" Hagus protested. The villagers continued to speak, and they grew more anxious by the second. Rena heard a woman ask,

"How will we live?" Another man growled,

"We'll be suffocating in a matter of minutes if we stay here!" The villagers were panicking too much in Rena's opinion.

"Silence!" Lowe roared. The room went silent. "Your village chief hasn't even finished speaking yet! How could you start making assumptions before you even heard the whole story?" He glared accusingly at the mob of people in front of him. "Now, finish what you were saying, Hagus." Lowe turned to the chief.

"Thank you, Lowe." Hagus said gratefully. "As I was saying, a group of bandits were sighted today in RubenForest, and they managed to get away with the El that has been keeping our Village alive. However, what you may not know is that RubenVillage's El shard was split into two pieces a century ago. The large piece, which you are all familiar with, is the one that got stolen today. However, the smaller piece was retrieved as well, by one of our own knights, if I am correct." Hagus glanced at Lowe, who nodded. "Therefore, I am proposing that we all stay in the Inn until the original El shard is recovered." Groans and complaints erupted inside the room, but they died down when Lowe gave everyone a shut-up-before-I-hurt-you look. Hagus continued, "The El that our knight brought back should be capable of keeping everything within this Inn alive. Now, I'll turn things over to Lowe." Lowe grunted.

"You hear that? You'd better stay here if you want to live." No one protested. "Anyway, onto business. Food will be distributed each day, but don't expect to get much if you're planning to last through the winter. Got that?" Some of the villagers grumbled about this, but the majority of them bobbed their heads, too fearful of the drillmaster to speak up. "Next, two families to each room in the Inn, since we're short on space." Rena watched as the faces of the people around her twisted in disgust, clearly stating that no one wanted to be packed into a room with non-family members. (Only the children seemed to enjoy this idea.) "That will be all," Lowe concluded, sounding exasperated at this point. "But before anyone moves, I want _all_ of my knights to report here after you're done settling into a room. And that means you too, Elsword." The villagers had already started to rush to unoccupied rooms, some of them glancing at Elsword curiously as they passed him. Rena was just about to ask Aisha what to do next when Hagus called,

"Rena! Can you come over here for a minute? Aisha, you too," he added. They looked at him inquisitively and approached. Aisha spoke first.

"Is there something wrong? I mean, besides the fact that the El's gone..."

"No, no. Nothing like that," Hagus assured here. "It's just, I have a favor to ask of you girls, if you'd be willing to do it. You don't _have_ to," he added quickly, "since this isn't your village and it's none of your business..."

"Well?" Aisha asked impatiently. "Can you get to the point?" Hagus cleared his throat.

"This is probably too much to ask, but is there any chance that you could try to find the village's El?" He gazed at them with concerned eyes. Rena didn't have to think twice.

"Of course we can!" She complied.

"Definitely," Aisha agreed. "Only a total jerk would refuse to help your village." Hagus looked as if he could hug them.

"Thank you so much," he said, his face breaking out into a huge grin.

"Hold it right there!" a voice broke in. Rena tilted her head to the left. An extremely irked Elsword was scowling at them, looking like he had been listening to the conversation the whole time.

"How could you send _them_ to look for the El? I have to go too!" he demanded. Hagus considered the boy, staring at his hard expression, probably knowing already that it would be impossible to keep Elsword from going. He sighed, muttering under his breath,

"You're just like your sister, aren't you..." Rena had to strain her ears to hear. _Did he say... Sister?_ "Alright," Hagus consented. "You can search for the El, but only under two conditions."

"I'll do anything," Elsword promised eagerly.

"First, you have to _promise_ that you'll come back. Second. You must travel with Aisha and Rena."

"What," Elsword gaped at the village chief, seeming as if he didn't comprehend the last string of words. Hagus took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"You _must_, no matter what, travel with these two girls. It's the only way you can leave. Otherwise, I won't permit it."

"Why not?!" Elsword sputtered. "The elf woman is fine, but there's no way I'm traveling with the other girl." Rena thought she saw Aisha tremble in the corner of her eye. Maybe it was her imagination. Maybe not. The dark expression that the mage was wearing didn't help to convince Rena otherwise.

"I'm sorry, Elsword," Hagus apologized. "But that's the only way you can have my permission to leave Ruben. I feel that you'd be safer if you hunted down the El with them." Elsword glowered at the wooden floorboards.

"F-fine... If that's the only way, I'll agree to it," he gave in. Hagus's expression seemed to soften just a bit.

"Good. Before you leave, I have to ask, do you have any form of El with you?" he directed mostly toward Rena and Aisha. "After all, while you were traveling, you would've needed to have something to help you get all the way to Ruben." Rena thought for a moment, and drew a necklace out from under her blouse. It was teardrop-shaped, and it seemed to glow with a faint, blue light.

"Do you mean this?" she questioned. Hagus dipped his head slightly.

"That's definitely El," he confirmed. _So that's what this was,_ Rena thought to herself. _Elder always made me wear this when I decided to leave Elf Village... I never knew why until now._

"Um," Aisha mumbled next to Rena. She pulled up her right sleeve, revealing a bracelet made of tightly woven strands of string, intersected with thin slivers of what was most likely fragments of El. "Is this what you're talking about?"

"Hmm, I guess so," Hagus responded after examining it carefully. Elsword had been standing quietly beside them for a while, but now he spoke up.

"What about me? I'm pretty sure I don't have anything like what they have." Hagus smiled at him mischievously.

"Are you sure about that?" Elsword nodded. "Well, that's not true. Before your sister left-" Elsword's eyes widened at the mention of his sister. "-she left me something to give to you." Hagus pulled something out of his pocket and dropped it in Elsword's palm. Elsword's eyes narrowed.

"This is-"

"That," Hagus cut him off, "is a necklace that contains El. Its aura should be strong enough to allow you to breathe while you're wearing it." Elsword stared suspiciously at the necklace, a simple, round amulet attached to golden chains. The amulet, like Rena's necklace, glowed with a dim, azure light. He shrugged and slipped the necklace over his head and tucked it under his shirt.

"Is there anything else, Chief?" Elsword asked, his tone slightly more wary than before. Hagus stroked his beard thoughtfully, then murmured,

"No, I suppose not." Elsword turned around.

"Good. I guess I'll start packing then. Rena, Aisha, pack quickly," he urged. "We need to catch those idiots, fast. Then I'll be able to punch the lights out of them for stealing the El." Rena chuckled, stirred by the child's fervor. _I suppose this will be interesting..._ She mused, then bounded toward the Inn room she had been staying in before, hoping that no one had taken her belongings during the chaos that erupted only ten minutes ago. Aisha appeared to be doing the same. "Let's meet up at the forest entrance!" Elsword's voice called out behind them. _Got it._ Rena headed up the stairs to retrieve her belongings, bracing herself for the journey that lay ahead.

* * *

**SL: And, that's it. But this was a transition chapter, you know, where it shifts from the god-darn-boring-beginning to the actual story line. **

**Elsword: o3o I like how you kept it real though. You know, how I hate Aisha's fat head and such.**

**Aisha: And the fact that I ****_will_**** smack him in the face sometime soon.**

**Elsword: OAO *runs away***

**Aisha: :D**

**SL: o-o ... ANYWAY, HERE'S WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO SAY. **

**To everyone who's spending time to read this load of poop: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS. IT MEANS A LOT TO ME, ACTUALLY, AND ENCOURAGES ME TO WRITE MORE. (Ahem, during class while the teacher's talking o-o;;; [but that's not the point~])**

**Anddddddd**

**to SquishyPenny: LOL, it's not really pro, but thank you's :D (Awesome penguin by the way)**

**to Guest: Really? I thought I failed at that, ESPECIALLY with placing commas in the correct spots and dialogue. (Dialogue kills me.) Thank you for your compliment~**

**to RubyCrusade: OH. MAI. GAWD. MY FAVORITE AUTHOR :DDD I felt so jubilant when I read your review. I practically exploded from joy. Then I died. (Or did I die before I exploded o.O) Then I had to piece myself back together to write this. o-o;;; Heh.**

**to FANGee: LOL. This story isn't even a week old though... And really? A second Breathless Word? Poop. I read about four chapters of that story *hangs head in shame* and it was... phenomenal. I don't even... God. I stopped reading Breathless World so I wouldn't copy any ideas from it, but it worries me that it reminds you of Breathless World... Nevertheless, thank youuuuu XD**

**to destroyerdestroyerdestroyer: Wow. Nice name o.o I'm glad you can see what's happening, because... that's how it should be. And yes, I can't wait for them to reach Bethma either XP**

**to: IssigelYin: Thank you :) Also, to answer your question, they are base. I like starting stories all the way from the beginning, or somewhere close to there at least, though it probably annoys the heck out of some people. :P Anyway, I looked at your job choices, and noticed... THEY WERE ALL THE OPPOSITES OF WHAT I CHOSE (except for Elsword, of course). Yet, after looking at them, I decided to mix together some of the choices that you made and some of the jobs I really wanted to include in the story. o.o (tangent)**

**SL: So that's all I have to say... I think.**

**Elsword: So can you shut up and go already? :P**

**SL: ... Fine. I'm going. (jerk)**

**Aisha: WAIT. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE BEFORE YOU POST ANOTHER CHAPTER ABOUT ME?**

**SL: Hm... I dunno o.o Depends how long it takes for an idea to pop into my head. And the story isn't ****_entirely_**** about you, Aisha...**

**Aisha: Whatever. =.=**

**Elsword: You leaving yet? o-o**

**SL: I AM, OK? I HAD TO ANSWER AISHA'S QUESTIO-**

***SL was kicked***

**Aisha: Hmm.. Rude...**

***Aisha was kicked***

**Elsword: Thank God... Well, see ya next week, possibly :P (speaking to no one in particular) **

***Elsword has left the room***


	5. Chapter 5

**SL: Hai~ :D**

**Aisha: HELLO THERE. HAVE YOU WRITTEN ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR ME?**

**SL: Wow... Straight to the point, but yeah. And this chapter wasn't for you; it was for my awesome readers :P (And Mother's Day)**

**Elsword: Oh hey, you're back o.o**

**SL: yup...**

**Rena: Do we get to kill anything in this chapter? I hate having to walk around and talk. There's no action anywhere =.=**

**SL: Yeah, there's a bit of action here, but don't expect much. I can't write a good fighting scene to save my life.**

**Rena: Oh... Joy.**

**Aisha: Whatever, just start the thing D:**

**SL: Okay, okay. Here we go.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Shadow Forest**

On the following morning, Aisha, Rena, and Elsword convened at the edge of Ruben Forest, or at least what used to be the forest. Walking through it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience...

Now, almost all the shrubs and foliage had disappeared, leaving no trace of their existence. The few that had remained were depressing to look at. Their dark, drooping leaves seemed to be rotting away; the plants sank lower and lower every minute, with unnerving eagerness to be swallowed by the earth. Elsword shuddered, noting that only the trees remained standing. They still loomed high over Elsword, Aisha, and Rena. However, something about them seemed off. Elsword blinked. The branches were stripped of their leaves; at least, they were _supposed_ to be, since they were not in the presence of El. So why did some of the trees keep their leaves? Elsword shook his head. This wasn't correct. He heard Aisha and Rena's footsteps come to a halt behind him.

"This - this doesn't look right," Elsword breathed, eyeing the trees with suspicion. "Doesn't the forest give you guys the creeps?" No answer came from behind him. "Aisha? Rena?" Elsword turned around and gasped. Instead of seeing his two traveling companions, Elsword came face-to-face with two cloaked figures. They wore dark jade garments and carried deformed oak branches. Dirty, cone-shaped hats, that must have been green at some point, topped both of their heads, partly concealing their grimy faces. The only feature Elsword could make out on their faces were glowing, yellow eyes that flickered like candle flames. "Who-" Elsword was cut off by a momentary flash of light. "What-" When he was able to see again, he looked down at the ground and noticed it was sizzling near his feet. Before Elsword could realize what had happened, the green-cloaked-figure on his right raised its oak branch up and brought it down, causing a bright orb of flame to appear out of nowhere and fly directly at Elsword. He yelped. Ducking at the last moment, Elsword just barely dodged it, the tips of his spiky, red hair singed a charcoal black. "I see how it is," he muttered. Drawing his bulky, crimson sword, Elsword charged the two freaks and swung his blade right through their waists. Instead of making contact with solid bodies, however, the sword passed cleanly through the green garments, and Elsword's attackers stared at him with their luminescent eyes, unfazed. "What the-" Elsword swayed out of balance, the momentum of his swing and the weight of his sword pulling him to the side. Both of the green-cloaked-figures raised their branches swiftly and shot another ball of fire at Elsword. This time, he had no chance to avoid their attacks. Bracing himself for the impact a microsecond before it hit, Elsword squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to be burned to a crisp. When nothing came, he opened an eye. Standing in front of him was a certain purple-haired mage, enveloped in a faint, blue aura. Elsword's mouth dropped open. _She - she took the hit._ Aisha turned around to face him, the front of her violet blouse slightly scorched.

"Well?" She scowled, annoyed. "Are you going to keep standing there like an idiot?

"N-no," Elsword stammered. Behind Aisha, one of the fire-users raised its oak branch, about to launch another fire ball at her. Elsword yelled frantically, "Watch out for-" Aisha whipped around, raising her staff. She waved it in three wide arcs, releasing three large fireballs that were much more menacing than the ones the green-cloaked-figures had used. One by one, the fireballs hit the attacker directly in the face.

"Bull's-eye," Aisha smirked. The victim of her assault fell to the ground, the light in its eyes fading away. The other one glowered at Aisha, its eyes glowing intensely now. "You want a piece of me?!" she taunted. It raised its wooden branch, only to get hit in the stomach by one of Aisha's fireballs. Aisha fired two more, right at the green-cloaked-figure's torso. It toppled backwards onto the ground, the light in its eyes flickering out immediately. Letting out a sigh, Aisha turned back to Elsword with a smug look on her face. "_Someone's_ been having problems with ghost magicians." Elsword blinked.

"Ghost what?" he asked, sure that he had heard her wrong. Aisha sighed again. "I'll tell you on the way. Right now, we have to find Rena."

* * *

"Ghost magicians," Aisha panted, trying to dash through the forest without tripping. "That's what those two were." She glanced behind her at Elsword, who looked about as befuddled as a person with amnesia. She rolled her eyes and returned her attention in front of her, fortunately just in time to duck under a tree branch. "Basically, if a forest loses its El, it dies, right?" Aisha queried.

"Yeah, everyone knows that," Elsword replied.

"Well, sometimes, if a forest is old enough when it loses its El, the spirits of the dying plants amble around the forest, usually alone but sometimes in pairs," Aisha explained, speaking like she would to a six-year-old.

"But I thought that nothing could live without the El," Elsword argued. "How could there be anything living in here?" Aisha gritted her teeth, a bit aggravated.

"They're not _alive_. They're just _there_, wandering around on the edge of existence," she muttered, wondering how Elsword could not know the basic knowledge she had learned years ago. _Doesn't Ruben Village teach its kids _anything_?_ Aisha wondered. They continued to run in silence. Finally, Elsword asked,

"Why did those ghost whatevers attack me? I mean, it's not like I did anything to them." Aisha was quiet for a minute, then questioned,

"Elsword, if someone you didn't know - such as a burglar - barged into your home, fully armed, how would you react?"

"I would kick him in the gut, duh," he replied, as if this were obvious.

"Exactly," Aisha pointed out. "That's why the ghost _magicians _-" she stressed the last word "- attacked you. They're confused; they don't know what happened to the forest, and if they see a complete stranger walking around, with a weapon, in their home, the most reasonable thing for them to do is to attack him."

"Oh," Elsword said in a small voice. Aisha and Elsword slowed, pausing to catch their breath. "Damn," Elsword huffed. "Where did Rena go?" Aisha shook her head.

"She must have run into something too; she doesn't seem like the kind of person to ditch us or get lost on her own." Elsword looked at her.

"What about you?" he inquired. "Where were you when I was being attacked by amnesiac forest spirits?" Aisha scowled, irked by his tone.

"I was separated from both of you. A spirit, one that people from my town would call Kira-Kira, made it impossible for me to get back to you guys until I beat it." Elsword frowned.

"I'm worried about Rena then. We don't even know how to find her." Light flashed behind him. Aisha's eyes widened. Far back, in a clearing they had passed nearly fifty paces ago, an enormous tree, which towered over the others in the forest, bent toward the ground. It then straightened up, its branches swinging wildly like a Whomping Willow on steroids. Elsword waved his hand in front of Aisha's face. "Hello? Helloooo? Earth to Miss Tomboy." Aisha slapped his hand away, staring daggers at him.

"Look!" she hissed, pointing past Elsword. He turned around.

"What? It's a tree- Oh. Snap." His mouth shaped into an O, showing a perfect form of shock. "Do you happen to have an explanation for plants that suddenly come to life?" Elsword asked weakly. Aisha stood there, practically frozen.

"No way," her breath caught in her throat as she saw the tree spit out huge balls of fire. "It can't be..."

"What?" Elsword pressed. "What is it?" Aisha gulped.

"That - that's the Tree of El... There's no way any other tree could be that large," she breathed. She stood petrified, transfixed by the enormity of the moving tree and the impossibility of its mobility. "My mentor... he told me about something like this." Elsword stared at her intently, ready to listen to any explanation that would come. "He said that when a wandering forest spirit combines with a plant... The plant becomes alive, with the ability to move around freely. He called the result of the combination, Ent." Aisha gulped. "I never believed him when he said that; I thought he was crazy, or messing with me... I guess he wasn't." Unable to pull her gaze from the Ent, Aisha didn't budge when Elsword said,

"Come on, we probably shouldn't be anywhere near that thing." No reply. "Aisha." He pushed her shoulder. "Aisha!" She didn't show any sign of acknowledgement. Suddenly, a flash of green appeared and disappeared from behind the Ent. Aisha snapped out of her daze.

"Wait! That was Rena!" she exclaimed with a shock. Elsword flicked his eyes toward the Ent. Another flash of green.

"Damn..." he murmured in disbelief."So we _are_ going to have to face that thing." Aisha nodded meekly before breaking into a full sprint towards the Ent, her wand tightly in her grip. She heard Elsword keeping up behind her. Thirty paces left. Twenty. Ten. Five. Aisha jumped up high into the air.

"Hyah!" she cried out, shooting a fireball from her wand in midair at the Ent. It turned around to be hit directly in the face. _A face?!_ Aisha silently screamed inside her head as she fell to the ground.

* * *

Rena blinked in surprise. Aisha and Elsword had found her, right on time. Her hair was singed, still smoking from the fireball the not-so-friendly tree had decided to spit at her. She let out a quick sigh of relief, knowing that she would have been dead in a mere two seconds if Aisha and Elsword hadn't averted the tree's attention. Now, the tree was concentrating on Aisha, its chrome-yellow eyes glinting with malice. The tree raised a branch, or an arm in Rena's opinion, to strike Aisha. It came down on the ground with a _thud_, missing its target, who had darted to the left to avoid being crushed into plant fertilizer. Aisha leered at the tree,

"Is that the best you've got, Ent?" _Ent?_ Rena peered up at the tree. It opened its mouth and spit out three fireballs now, instead of one. They all headed directly toward Aisha. Quickly, she raised her wand, whispered an unintelligible word, and thrust it down. The fireballs hit the ground. Several feet away, Aisha appeared out of thin air, closer to Rena now. Rena shook her head to clear it. _What am I doing?_ She bent down and picked her bow from the ground where the fire-friendly tree had caused her to drop it. Nocking an arrow, Rena closed an eye, aimed, and released. The arrow sliced the air and stabbed the tree in the eye. The tree roared in fury. Leaving no time for the tree to recover, Rena hurriedly shot arrow after arrow, firing as fast as she could without screwing up her aim. Aisha, too, was launching one attack after another, refusing to pause for even a moment. The size of her fireballs rivaled the size of Mr. Fire-Spitter's fireballs. Rena was impressed, but she continued her assault of arrows. Behind the tree, Rena could barely see Elsword. He slammed the edge of his bulky sword into the tree. The tree swayed backwards, its branches flailing in front of it, and Elsword pulled on his blade. It was stuck. He tugged harder, with all his strength, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, he managed to yank his sword out of the bark. Only then did he notice the massive tree that was going to fall on top of him.

"Elsword!" Aisha yelped frantically from the other side. "Abfugie!" she screamed in her panic, thrusting her wand down. She disappeared suddenly and reappeared next to Elsword. The tree was right above them. She grabbed his arm and yelled the same word, thrusting her wand down again. A quarter of a second later, the gargantuan tree hit the ground with an ear shattering _thump_, and Aisha and Elsword were next to Rena, both of them breathing deeply, wide-eyed with alarm. The light in the tree's eyes faded, the last signs of life in the tree disappearing. Rena swallowed, and turned to Aisha and Elsword. Aisha released Elsword's arm from her tight grip, the action quite conspicuous before Rena's eyes.

"Wow..." Elsword said quietly. Aisha was drained of all her terror from five seconds ago, and now she bristled with irritation.

"You idiot!" she pointed a finger at Elsword. "How could you let yourself almost get _killed_?" Elsword's jaw dropped, and he scowled.

"I didn't know! Maybe you shouldn't have made the Ent fall in the first place, shooting your stupid fireballs everywhere like that." Rena could feel heat radiating off of Aisha's body.

"What did you _expect_ me to do? Rena was in danger! You wanted me to leave her at the mercy of the Ent?" Aisha spat out.

"Hey, Aisha..." Rena said gently.

"Well, you could've done it more carefully," Elsword retorted, his fiery red eyes looking as if they could burst into flames any moment.

"Guys," Rena called out in a placating voice. She was ignored.

"It was kind of an emergency?!" Aisha quipped, trembling in rage. "What? Next time you want me to stand still and watch until you are Rena are dead? Is _that_ when I stop being careful?"

"**Shut up!**" Rena burst out. Aisha and Elsword closed their mouths. They whipped their heads toward Rena, startled. Rena glared at them with a steely gaze in her emerald eyes. "Can't you just stop fighting for five seconds and get along with each other like _normal_ people?" she snapped. "If you keep arguing with each other..." Rena looked at them with an evil glint in her eyes. Aisha and Elsword shrank back, to Rena's satisfaction. "Well, I guess you'd have to see what would happen if you do, next time~" Rena remarked with a lighthearted voice. She returned to her usual, cheery personality, though that only seemed to make them more terrified of her. Despite herself, Rena chuckled inwardly. _Those two are really interesting..._ She turned around and scanned the forest. "Hmm... We should get out of here soon, don't you agree?"

"Y - yeah," Aisha answered, her voice feeble and still shaking, perhaps from Rena's threat.

"I think..." Rena squinted her eyes, glimpsing a barely visible hint of light about half a mile through the forest. "We need to go that way," she said confidently, pointing to the area where she had seen the light. She looked back at Aisha and Elsword. They both shrugged, and began to march forward, not daring to challenge her. Rena skipped in front of them with the grace of a gazelle, leading the way that she knew would get them out of the dead forest. At last, they approached closer and closer to the area where Rena had seen the light. The shadows seemed to melt away, and the radiance of the light became more intense. Rena, Aisha, and Elsword stepped out of the forest and saw the glorious thing they had been deprived of: daylight. Aisha gasped.

"Look! A village!" Indeed, there was a village near the horizon, a shining haven only half a day's trek from the edge of the forest. The sun, which had been nonexistent during Aisha, Rena, and Elsword's encasement in the woods, sat high in the sky, burning Rena's eyes. She strode, with new found motivation, toward the village, determined to close the gap between it and her. Aisha and Elsword followed suit, eager to get in touch with civilization. A small smile danced on Rena's lips. _Good-bye, Shadow Forest..._

* * *

**Aisha: Abfugie? o-o;**

**SL: I think it means "escape" or "flee away from" or something like that... It's what troll Aishas do in PvP with teleport. -_-**

**Elsword: Indeed.**

**Rena: Oh hey, I can be threatening? o.o**

**Elsword and Aisha: *nods their heads quickly***

**Rena: Why was I not informed about this? D: My life would have been so much easier~**

**Raven: Because. Once you know something, you always take advantage of it. .-.**

**SL: And that's why we love her. **

**Anywayyyy to the nice people that reviewed~**

**IssigelYin: What job, you ask? Well, you'll just have to see :D and MK and HM? Maybe~ You never know, but for MK: 95% chance that I'll be using him, lol. And ty, btw! I just made the name "SeouLee" because it's a combination of the last names of three of my friends from 5th grade. I like your name too! It's unique, and it sounds so... ASIAN. I think.**

**sOdAPopgrl133: Wow. I had to look at the page with your pen name about four times to be able to type it... owo But thank you so much for your kind words. They touch the bottom of my heart, and move my soul, and pick me off my feet. Well, at least in my mind they do. XD I'm glad you can see what's going on, especially since I have to spend a day searching up vocabulary on google to replace half of the words in my first draft... Yeah.**

**FANGee: Thank God it's different. XP Also, thank you for your compliment! Reading the nice reviews that people took their time to post really urges me to write faster, and to try harder when I'm editing what I wrote. Btw, your fictions have AMAZING vocabulary. The words you use are so sophisticated XO I wish I could come up with words like those off the top of my head...**

**destroyerdestroyerdestroyer: O_O I still can't get over that name... it just pops out at me like I don't know, the Terminator? Anyway, thank you's :0 I don't think it's as good as you say, but I'm glad you think it's accurate :) It's not going to be entirely accurate and follow the story line word for word, or place for place I guess... I'm going to add some details in of my own, and change a few things. But it all ties in to one thing: to get the El. And.. Sander? Oh god o_o Maybe, if I don't lose motivation by then. But... gosh. Now that I think about it, it's so much to cover... I'll try to get there though, one chapter at a time...**

**RubyCrusade: Oh snap. You just... You're killing me with kindness here. You and all the other people XD God... you're one of those OBSERVANT readers, huh? I never thought of that. I just put the necklace there to make sure Elsword had something from his big sister... Still, that sparked an idea for me, so thank you very much~~~**

**WAIT WAIT WAIT. BACKTRACKING. TO THE PERSON WHO PMed: Lol, the grammar! XD I _WILL_ RUN TO YOU FOR EXTRA IDEAS OR HELP AND STUFF. I WILL ASK BOTH RC AND YOU FOR HELP TOO IF I GET STUCK. I will. I'll be at your house. Knocking. In the middle of the night :) To thank you for your cordiality of course~**

**Now, to the anonymous Guest: Here's your chapter :) And yes, I have decided, sort of, what they will advance to. However, there's one person I'll _really_ need help with deciding. I'll explain soon.**

**Deen/Liliqe: OMG! #$#%&! LILIQE IS _READING_? OAO *dies of shock* I _will_ keep this up, if it means you're going to read ;D**

**SquishyPenny: YES. FAT LILIQE HAS JOINED. GET ALL THE PENGUINS HERE. EMERGENCY MEETING. NOW. **

**SL: Now, here's a question for anyone who cares, and if you care about Rena, you better answer, since your answer _will_ affect the outcome. O_O I'm thinking of having Rena's job path be the Trapping Ranger (despite the fact that people hate it and such. "It's low tier" "It's not a Trapping Ranger, it's a Trash Ranger") _because_ I thought the use of a knife/sword/whatever you call it in her fighting would have be awesome. It also might be weird, because Rena would probably be the only transform class in this story, _if _I decided to use her. However, I don't really feel like using a GA, because GA's are used in fan fictions... a lot. But WS's have too many skills that involve mainly kicking, so I thought it would be a bit bland to use a WS. But that's just my opinion. So long story short:**

**WS: Pro=Not used a lot in Fanfictions (from what I've seen) Con=Idk how to incorporate the skills into my version of the story**

**GA: Pro=Heck of a lot of skills to use Con=Used sooooo much.**

**TR/NW: Pro=Good variety of skills, use of Erendil (is that what it's called?) is intriguing Con: Only transform class in the story**

**So like, if you can, please review and say which job should be used in this story. Otherwise... I'll be at a stalemate. Yeah. Thank you again to all the people that are reading this. It means a lot to me TwT**

**ALSO. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY. GO TO YOUR MOMS, GIVE HER A HUG, A FLOWER, W/E. BE NICE TO HER, NOT JUST TODAY, BUT EVERY DAY IF YOU CAN :D**

**And if you can't every day... Be nice to your mom today at least, if you can. Please owo**


	6. Chapter 6

**SL: So here I am with the next chapter~ :D**  
**Elsword: Is it an action scene?**  
**SL: No.**  
**Elsword: ...Bye.**  
**SL: D:**  
**Liliqe: I'M STILL READING IT.**  
**SL: :D**  
**Rena: Who let her in o-o**  
**Raven: Eh. I got bored.**  
**Liliqe: WHOAAAA. *points at Rena* AN ELF.**  
**Rena: Whoaaaa. *points at Liliqe* An elf wannabe o.o**  
**Liliqe: o-o**  
**SL: o-o;**  
**Aisha: *walks in* Hi Rena! Hi... other Rena.**  
**Rena: *rageface* (whirls around to face Liliqe) I'M GONNA-**  
***Rena was kicked***  
**SL: -_- AND CHAPTER BEGIN.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Temporary Haven**

Elder Village. Elsword stared at the place in awe. The houses were huge, compared to the ones in Ruben, placed in even intervals all the way to the village square. A few merchants had opened up shops in the square, selling all sorts of goods, ranging from foods Elsword had never seen before to a great variety of armor and weapons that Ruben just didn't have the supplies to make. Sweet aromas drifted lazily through the air to the delicately paved path where Elsword and his companions walked. Elsword inhaled deeply, taking in the heavenly fragrance of apple pies and blueberry rolls. Beside him, Aisha sniffed the air, her eyes closed and her expression peaceful. At least she wasn't rolling her eyes or yelling in his face for once. As they approached the square, Elsword eyed the things the merchants were selling. He could hear his sister's wistful voice now, describing Elder village as she had when she returned from one of her journeys away from Ruben.  
_"It was bright, Elsword. The ground was laid with perfectly cut squares of stone, all of them polished and white. The food that Elder had, oh, if only you could have tasted some yourself! The village had an abundance of your favorite pastries, and some baked goods that you've never seen."_ Elsword scanned the items that were displayed. Elsa was right; there _was_ a lot of food here. Freshly-baked raspberry pastries and cookies in the shape of phorus seemed to sparkle in the light of the setting sun. Even farther in the square, booths were buried under piles of clothing. Soft, silky blouses for mages cluttered one table. Elsword ran a finger down one of the outfits, enjoying the cool, smooth feel of the fabric. He stumbled upon another table, with the rough, durable material of a sword fighter's attire. The next table sold armor undoubtedly made by elves; the craftsmanship was amazing. Sky-blue thread woven through mossy-green cloth made perfect camouflages for people like Rena, who probably spent most of their time roaming through the woods. Elsa's voice came back to him. _"That village had some of the best equipment I've ever seen, besides the ones Hamel had of course. There was armor made by some of the most skilled elves and blades that were slim, but sturdy enough to slice through any of Ruben's trees with ease."_ Elsword saw the faint smile Elsa had worn when she recalled all of this. _"Maybe... When you're old enough, I'll take you there with me..."_ He remembered how excited he had been when she said that. Only a month after that trip, however, Elsa disappeared. "Missing, not dead," was what Hagus told him. Elsword was nine at that time, and now he knew that he wouldn't know for sure what had happened to Elsa, unless he went searching for her himself.  
"Elsword," Rena interrupted his thoughts. He turned around.  
"Yeah?" Elsword said, still detached from the world. Rena regarded him thoughtfully; he had been quiet for a while now.  
"We should find somewhere to stay for the night. It'll be dark soon." Elsword turned his head toward the setting sun and realized Rena was right. It wouldn't be long before the light disappeared. He looked around for Aisha, who was apparently reading a thin book with a wrinkled leather cover.

"Aisha," Rena called. "We should get going now. We need to find a place to stay tonight." If Aisha heard her, she definitely wasn't showing any sign of it. She was so engrossed in her book, she wouldn't have noticed if an Ent came stomping through Elder. "Aisha," Rena said firmly. She tapped Aisha lightly on the shoulder, and Aisha looked up.  
"Huh?" she questioned, dazed.  
"Umm... I was saying that we should go now. The sun's setting," Rena explained with practiced patience. Aisha blinked.  
"Oh. Right." Closing her thin leather tome, Aisha pushed herself up from the ground where she had been sitting. Elsword thought he saw the words "Fundaments for Basic Magic" written neatly in script on the front cover of the book.  
"So, a tomboy _and_ a book freak?" Elsword couldn't resist saying. "I've just lost all my respect for you." Aisha narrowed her eyes at him.  
"What did you say?" she responded, her tone conveying a warning. Before Elsword could speak again, Rena interfered.  
"Guys~" she said with forced cheerfulness. "You know. I really _hate_ when two people waste time arguing about silly matters." Despite the huge grin painted on Rena's face, she was delivering a silent threat.  
"B-but," Aisha stammered.  
"You two can fight like an old married couple once we find a place to stay, 'kay?" Rena winked. They both gaped at her. Elsword wanted to clean his ears out from hearing such a disgusting suggestion. Rena changed the topic, ignoring their expressions. "Let's see... According to this map I should have..." Rena slid her pack off her shoulders and ruffled through its contents before pulling out a folded piece of paper, tattered and wrinkled from years of use but still in decent condition. "Aha!" Rena opened up the paper, revealing a whole map of Rurensia, the western half of Elrios. "As I was saying, according to this map, we're right here." She pointed to a miniscule point on the map, near the name, _Elder Village_. "So then," Rena continued, "We should head out of the square and go near the accessory shop. Next to that, there's an inn." Elsword squinted at the map. How was Rena reading that thing? Elder Village was only a dot on there, for Lady El's sake. She folded up the map and stuffed it into her pack. "This way~" Rena motioned to her left and started to go off in that direction, checking behind her shoulder occasionally to make sure Aisha and Elsword were keeping up.

* * *

Just as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, they reached the inn. It wasn't fancy, compared to the ones Aisha had seen, but it was decent, better than the forest at least. When the three of them entered through the inn's wooden double doors, a person, presumably the innkeeper, glanced up behind a counter with a lazy expression.  
"Yes?" he asked vacantly.  
"Would you happen to have any spare rooms?" Rena pleasantly requested. The innkeeper blinked.  
"First room on the left," he murmured, pointing his thumb behind him at a dimly lit corridor. He hefted himself from his stool behind the counter, stifling a yawn, and slumped toward Rena. Aisha could tell he didn't want to abandon his precious seat. "Here," he sighed, handing Rena a rusty metal key. "Pay when you leave the village." He already was half way back to the counter. The three of them looked at each other quizzically before they made the decision to hurry to the room.  
When they entered in the room, Aisha let out a deep breath.  
"God, that innkeeper was so weird!" she exclaimed, glad that the door to their room was shut. Elsword dropped his sword and pack down on the ground.  
"He seemed pretty tired," Elsword noted, stretching his arms over his head and groaning. Rena hummed thoughtfully,  
"I don't think Elder Village has been getting any visitors lately."  
"Oh?" Aisha lifted an eyebrow. "And what led you to think that?"  
"No one was in the building besides that man," Rena said. "The last time I came to Elder, this inn was packed. I almost couldn't get a room." Aisha contemplated this and inquired, "When was the last time you came here?" That made Rena think. She furrowed her brow and concentrated. After a minute, she answered,  
"I think... Twenty years ago? Maybe thirty?" Rena chuckled and tossed her arms out helplessly. "I don't even remember anymore. But what I _do_ remember is that Elder's inn was crowded. It wasn't just the last time I visited, either. Every time I came to Elder, it was filled with people from all over Rurensia." Rena paused. "Would you like to guess why?" Aisha stared at the ground for a moment.  
"I guess," she tried, "probably because of the different goods sold here? There _were_ a lot of merchants when we passed the square..."  
"Bingo," Rena grinned.  
"Wait," Elsword muttered. "_Thirty_ years ago? _That's_ when you visited Elder?"  
"Yeah," Rena clarified.  
"But... You hardly even look like you're thirty," he protested. Aisha shook her head and sighed.  
"She's an _elf_, idiot. Haven't you noticed?"  
"I know _that_," Elsword snapped. "But what difference does that make? How could she be more than thirty years old? She only looks a several years older than you do."  
"Like I said, she's an elf," Aisha explained curtly. "They have longer life spans than humans do. Didn't you learn _anything_ in Ruben Village?"  
"Oh," was all Elsword could say for the moment. He said in a small voice, "I didn't learn anything in Ruben. Our village is too small to have a school. All the knowledge that kids get there are things their parents teach them... I don't have parents, so my sis taught me how to read and how to fight."  
"Well, she should've at least made you read books pertaining to information about Elrios," Aisha retorted.  
"She disappeared before she could teach me more..." Elsword mumbled quietly. His expression, for some reason, had grown dark when he said that. He moved to check a few things in his pack.  
"I... I didn't know," Aisha said dumbly. As annoying as Elsword could be, Aisha knew now wasn't one of the times that she should treat him with rancor. She regretted starting this conversation.  
"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Elsword replied indifferently, not bothering to look over his shoulder.  
"Aisha," Rena spoke up suddenly. "Would you come outside with me for a bit?"  
"Sure..." Aisha was relieved to be released from the uncomfortable silence that had settled in the room. "And Elsword~" Rena addressed him. "You can get ready to sleep before we come back; I don't know how long we might be out." He grunted, still busying himself with his possessions, probably trying to avoid conversation.  
Aisha wrapped her hand around the door handle and hastened to leave, with Rena behind her. As she exited the room, Aisha thought she heard a sigh of relief escape from Elsword's mouth.

* * *

"So," Aisha began, "why did you bring me out here?" She turned and faced Rena. Rena breathed in the cold, clear night air before answering,  
"I just thought it would be nice if we could get some fresh air." She tried to sound casual. Aisha didn't buy it.  
"Uh huh. And?" Rena smiled faintly.  
"Don't you think the stars are beautiful tonight?" She gazed at the sky with a wistful expression. Beside her, Aisha sighed, seemingly irked.  
"Can you stop avoiding the subject? Just tell me straight out what you dragged me out here for." Her tone wasn't unfriendly, just weary and exasperated.  
"Ah," Rena murmured. "I don't know, actually." She stopped speaking, and Aisha shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe I needed to get outside for a moment to stop and think. Maybe I wanted to separate you and Elsword before the situation got messier." Rena paused to peer at Aisha. "You _did_ realize that Elsword suddenly became uncomfortable once he started talking about his sister, right?" Aisha nodded.  
"Yeah... I guess so," Aisha admitted, hesitating. "I didn't know that his sister disappeared." It sounded like an excuse, a poor one, when it left her mouth. Rena patted her shoulder.  
"It's alright. I get it," she grinned reassuringly. "By the way, in the forest, that was some quick thinking you did there. If you hadn't gotten Elsword out from under the Ent - I think that's what you called it - in time, who knows what would've happened to him?" Rena tried to change the direction that their conversation outside was going in. She didn't want Aisha returning to the inn, all glum. So she ventured, "I bet Elsword was the first person you met that you wanted to smack in the face, huh?" Aisha nodded absentmindedly. "So then that must mean he's different from others," Rena theorized. Giving a derisive snort, Aisha said,  
"_Different_ is one way to put it." Rena probed,  
"Then does that mean... he's special to you?" She smirked deviously.  
"_What_?!" The mood in the air suddenly changed. Aisha gawked at the elf incredulously. "_Never_, not in a million years. That little brat-" Rena stopped her.  
"I was just kidding," she chuckled. "It's funny though, how worked up you got about that." Aisha glared at Rena, irritated.  
"Hmph. You're annoying..." She couldn't stay angry at the elf, though. Only a few minutes passed before Rena got Aisha to laugh. They told each other about their pasts, shared stories of their own adventures, and Rena had years, many years of experience in her life to narrate to Aisha. They listened intently to each other's history, not letting a single word from their recollections to slip through their ears. Hours passed without Rena or Aisha knowing.  
Aisha rubbed her eyes sleepily. "How long have we been out here?" She shivered slightly, realizing, now that there was a gap in their conversation, how cold it was. Of course, this chilliness was to be expected, since Elrios was well into its eleventh month of the year. Rena intertwined her fingers together and stretched them over her head.  
"Ah, I don't know," she stifled a yawn. "Though, looking at you, we should probably return inside." Nodding, Aisha picked herself up from the ground, her body frozen from sitting there who-knew-how-long. Rena followed suit, leaping up and heading straight to the inn with Aisha; they had been sitting outside one of Elder's accessory shops.  
Twisting the rusty metal key in the keyhole and turning the doorknob, Aisha peeked into the room. "Elsword?" she whispered. No reply. She opened the door wider, allowing the candlelight from the hallway to flood into the room. There he was, sleeping soundly on a bed, covered almost entirely by a frayed, wool blanket. "I guess he couldn't wait for us," Aisha commented quietly. Rena scanned her eyes across the room, noticing just as Aisha said, "Wait... This room only has two beds." She answered this by saying,  
"Yeah, I forgot. This inn has two for each room."  
"So umm... I don't think either of us is going on the floor," Aisha stated.  
"No, I suppose not," Rena murmured. "But, we can share, right?" Aisha nodded slowly.  
"Works for me." She shrugged and removed her usual violet attire, revealing her undergarments, before slipping under the covers of the unoccupied bed. Rena did the same, taking the spot next to Aisha. As she drifted off toward the unconsciousness that greeted her at the end of each day, Rena vaguely remembered smelling a faint lavender scent coming from her mage comrade.

* * *

**SL: There. Short, but... My original idea for this chapter was too long, so I decided to break it up into two chapters. :P I don't want long chapters until the story progresses a little more.  
Liliqe: Idc, make the next chapter :D**  
**Rena: BEFORE YOU DO THAT, I DEMAND THAT YOU BAN THIS FRAUD.**  
**Liliqe: Q.Q *cries in the corner***  
**SL: Who let you back in, Rena? o-o**  
**Raven: I got bored again. .-.**  
**SL: Okay... Anyway...**

**To the awesome reviewers~~~**

**to xSnowflakesx: I disagree. I think, it's a load of penguin poop :D (It reminds you of something from Eltype? Never tried reading that.) But thank you XD I'll update whenever I can, but only if ****_you_ keep updating. *stalks Snow's fan fiction***

**to RubyCrusade: Yeah, I suppose nobody's been getting the alert a few days ago. Thank God it's fixed now. (had to bookmark and check every fan fiction) And you're getting titchy? o.o Take some medication for that. *hands RC a pill bottle* And... thank you for your kind compliment. All of them, actually. It makes me so happy to read them :3 (On a side note: No internet for a month... Oh my gosh. I'll try to update faster before you leave :0 But... I don't know, with finals and SATs coming up T_T All I can say is, COME BACK ASAP)**

**to NekoYinChan: LOL. You changed your pen name XD And boost that 95% up to a 97% o-o Never shall I put sword knight or sheath knight in there. (though after reading Snow's and RC's stories, I somewhat support the idea of using ShK in fan fictions... They included him so well ;_;)**

**to destroyerdestroyerdestroyer: Thank you :D And your writing. Hilarious. I come back home from school to read it and get a good laugh out of it XD Also, I won't go on a hiatus. Maybe for one week near the end of the school year... because of finals. o-o But besides that, no. Plus, recreation? o.o Hmm.. Maybe. I'll think about it as the story progresses XP**

**to deathangel123456: Eve and Chung will get here eventually :P I want to introduce them at the right place... You'll be seeing them at some point though :)**

**to I'm a guest owo: Yeah, I am in middle school XD Kind of the reason why I don't update quickly... And. Waiting? Where o-o**

**to Name I forgot: Really? I actually think Shadow Forest was necessary in the story to create some sort of transition. I mean, if I'm taking Elsword, Rena, and Aisha through the woods, it'll probably be dying. (I know that Ruben's forest probably wasn't the Shadow Forest in the game, but oh wells :P)**

**to Guest: YUS. FIREBALLS. AISHA FTW. *high five* I can't wait until the other characters come either. There'll be more (color?) and variety :D**

**to RandomPerson: Yeah, I think someone said Trapping Ranger was Trash Ranger... I think Yrs did? qq AND YOU BETTER BE KIND TO YOUR MOTHER. *peeks through RandomPerson's window***

**to JiroBuster976: Ah, I see Jiro has visited this story.**  
**Rena: ******  
**Ara: I DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN BY "SUGAR"**  
**Eve: Moby, Reby, do something about this. *glides away and leaves drones***  
***explosion***  
**SL: Huh. I guess Jiro's going to entertain our Elsword gang :D What's left of it at least..**  
**Ara: **** TIME TO FIND ANOTHER STORY TO HIDE IN.**  
**SL: You weren't even in this o-o**  
**Ara: IDC. BYE.**  
**Jiro: Waiittt :0**  
***Ara has left the room***  
**Jiro: :'(**  
**SL: Moving on.**

**to YuYuYu A: It depends on everyone else for Rena's job? o.O Hm.. strange. I'm mixing a lot of those classes up XP And Rena x Raven? It will come when time allows :)**

**to FANGee: (shoot, is it FANG ee? I just saw that today T_T) Oh my gosh. Thank you. I'll post moar for you :D *dies from excessive kind compliments before posting***

**to Rosamanelle: I'M SORRY. I DIDN'T MEAN TO T_T and yeah... this is my first time attempting to write any story actually... I suck in English class (I was placed into special help in elementary school) but I have a friend (oh boy, going to be a tangent) who is so god-dam pro at English. (Grammar, vocabulary, sentence formation, and whatnot) I mean, she reads an average of two novels a day (unhealthy addiction) and talking to her is the most annoying part. Whenever I make a mistake in how I phrase a sentence, use a word, or use grammar, she freaking spazzes out and forces me to correct what I said. Annoying? Yes. Helpful? Quite a bit in writing. She's the only reason I'm not writing like a first grader. BUT CHEER UP, BECAUSE YOUR WRITING ACTUALLY IS AMAZING (cough cough, update soon plox) *drags Rosamanelle out of the emo corner***

**AHEM. TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SHARED THEIR OPINIONS ON RENA'S JOB, I SINCERELY AND FORMALLY GIVE MY THANKS TO YOU. (Pft. Never mind, not formally) But when Rena's job was decided, I suddenly got an awesome idea for how to incorporate her path into the story, so look forward to that. Also, I think Rena will probably be a more leader-like person in this story than she was in fan fictions I've seen.**

**Until the next update, see ya :D**  
**(AND PVP SEASON TWO :D)**

**Elsword: WAIT.**  
**SL: What. o.o**  
**Elsword: WASN'T IT SOMEONE'S BIRTHDAY ON MAY 20TH?**  
**SL: Maybe. But Elsword, that's favoritism. So SHHHHHHH.**  
**Elsword: Still, I think we should sing Happy Birthday D:**  
**SL: No.**  
**Elsword: Happy Birthday to-**  
***Elsword was kicked***  
**SL: Favoritism. Seriously. I need unbiased characters -.-**


	7. Chapter 7

**Liliqe: ALRIGHT, SO I SEE A NEW CHAPTER. TIME TO READ THIS SHET.**

**SquishyPenny: Go eat your burgers (*^*).**

**Elsword: Holy poop, another fat head.**

**Rena: The clone looks better though, look at those mini ponytails!**

**Aisha: THAT'S ME IN THE FUTURE. WOOT. **

**SL: I'm making you into something better though :D**

**Elsword: AN EVEN BIGGER HEAD **

**Rena: *Giggles* **

**Aisha: o_O Lightning bolt!**

***Elsword was left at a hospital* **

**Rena: I'mma leave...**

**SquishyPenny: HELL STONE!**

***Rena has joined Elsword***

**SL: Huh... Well then, let the chapter begin~**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Fishing for Information**

Light poured into the room from its single window, falling over Rena's closed eyelids. She opened her eyes, realizing it was morning. Pushing herself up from bed, Rena looked around the room with wide-eyed alarm. Aisha and Elsword were nowhere to be seen. Where had they gone? From the corner of her eye, Rena glimpsed a sheet of paper on the room's side table. Snatching it up, she skimmed a note that had been scrawled hastily on it in script:

"Eating breakfast. Come to the village square."

Rena sighed in relief. Dressing in her usual jade attire, she picked up her pack and slung her bow over her shoulder, just in case. She slipped out of the room and passed the drowsy innkeeper. He didn't seem to notice her leave.

This time, when Rena passed the accessory shop, she noticed a young woman with honey colored hair that was restrained under a dark, patched bandana. The woman stared at her from inside the shop. She gave Rena a kind wink, her coffee-brown eyes sparkling with mischief. Rena smiled and waved back politely and continued walking towards the square.

When she arrived, she spotted Aisha and Elsword seated on a bench, near them was a merchant selling food. Her companions sat on opposite ends of the bench, ravenously devouring raspberry pastries that they had probably bought from the merchant. They looked up when Rena approached.

"Hwi Raynwa," Elsword greeted her, his mouth filled with pastry. He swallowed. "Do you want some?" he asked, pointing at his breakfast then at the merchant. Rena giggled, shaking her head.

"I'll get something later. Right now, shouldn't we be planning what to do?"

"Actually, I was thinking of collecting information," Aisha piped up. "If Ruben's El passed this village, wouldn't any of the shop keepers here have noticed? It's huge; they couldn't have missed it."

"Of course," Rena realized. "So if any of the shop keepers _did_ see the thieves, we could track them down and get the El back!"

''Wait,'' Elsword licked his fingers full of sticky raspberry jam. "Here's my question: How will we bring the El back to Ruben? It's _enormous_. In fact, I don't even know how the bandits carried it off."

"We can figure that out later," Rena assured him. "Right now, we should be more worried about getting it back. Anyway, I think we should split up and ask different shop keepers in Elder about the El. How about we meet here around noon?"

"Sounds good," Aisha agreed. Elsword nodded.

"Alright, then. See you guys later~" Rena called over her shoulder. She hurried back in the direction she had come in.

* * *

At the accessory shop, the young woman was still there, this time inspecting a shining, ruby bracelet. She held glass lens over it, squinting through the glass with one eye. She didn't look up when Rena entered the shop so the elf stood a few feet behind the shop keeper's counter, waiting patiently. At last, the woman sighed.

"No good. Its aura is fading..." She looked up. ''You're that person that passed my shop an hour ago, correct?''

"Yeah, that's me~" Rena responded cheerfully. The shop keeper grinned, her eyes showing the same mischievous look from before.

"Well, is there anything you need?" she asked.

"Sort of," Rena replied. "I'm looking for information regarding a certain group of thieves. I think their leader's name was Banthus. Would you happen to have any information about them?" The woman regarded her closely, then motioned her to the back room of the shop.

"Come with me. I think we have a lot to talk about," she said seriously. "My name's Luichel, by the way. Yours?"

"Rena," the young looking elf answered.

"You see, I used to be part of Banthus's group," Luichel admitted regretfully as she sat down in a chair that Rena didn't notice before. "It wasn't a very wise choice back then." She looked up to see Rena's eyes, full of disbelief. "I'm not in alliance with them _now_," Luichel assured her. "Still, if it's information regarding Banthus and his gang that you need, I think I can help you. Now, what is it you want to know about them?"

* * *

"Thieves you say?" the old man frowned. "I don't recall seeing any. Why?" Elsword swore under his breath.

"Ruben's El got stolen recently," he stated. "So I was wondering if you noticed any strange activities around here, like a group of bandits roaming around or a higher concentration of El, since the people who stole it had to come through Elder."

"Hmm..." the man scratched his head. "I'm afraid I haven't, young man."

"But the El... It's almost as large as the houses here!" Elsword exclaimed incredulously. "I just don't see how..." He shook his head.

"Ah, well, I've been too busy these past few days dealing with upset merchants to notice anything. I'm sorry," the man apologized. Elsword looked up.

"You said you were... Hoffman?" The man nodded. ''And you're the person in charge of all matters concerning the merchants?''

"That's right."

''Then why were the merchants you dealt with upset?'' Elsword inquired. Hoffman sighed,

"It was the same case for all of them, actually. They claimed that some of their merchandise went missing." Narrowing his scarlet eyes, Elsword questioned,

"When did this start happening, exactly?" Hoffman immediately answered,

"Roughly three or four days ago, while the merchants were traveling here on the road. Two days ago, the disappearance of goods stopped, but only yesterday, some of the people said that someone stole their items while they were _in_ Elder." Elsword gasped. _The disappearance of merchandise _has_ to be linked to the group of thieves. The leader would obviously need to keep his men fed, but if he has a large gang, he'll have to resort to stealing._ The pieces all clicked into place for Elsword, for once. He decided to ask,

"Hey, old man, are there any places around Elder where a group of thieves could possibly hide?" Shaking his head, Hoffman said,

"Not that I know of, but then again, I'm not very familiar with information regarding hiding locations. If you wanted to know something like that, you'd have to ask Luichel; she's the accessory shop owner in Elder. She used to be part of a gang of thieves." Hagus paused, then added as an afterthought, "The only place that comes to my mind is the underground waterway, and no one bothers to go somewhere that filthy. Past Elder, it's only Lord Wally's castle." Hoffman said _Lord Wally_ with a level of contempt. "In the opposite direction, you'd be heading into the woods." Elsword shuddered. His time in the woods hadn't exactly been a pleasant one. He had enough of dead plant spirits.

"Wait. I don't completely understand this. Is 'Lord Wally' a king or something to people in Elder?" Elsword asked. Hoffman grumbled,

"Thank Lady El, he's not. But the land stretching from his castle past Elder Village is all part of his fiefdom; he owns it." He rolled his eyes. "He's been taxing the hell out of the villagers here for as long as anyone could remember, until last week." Hoffman stared at the ground intently, seeming deep in thought. "For some reason, Wally cut off all his connections with Elder Village since then... None of his soldiers showed up near Elder, except at the town's entrances and exits."

"That's... Strange," Elsword said, bemused.

"Indeed," Hoffman agreed. "I wonder why..."

* * *

"Oh? Bandits?" the alchemist queried, puzzlement blatant in her dark, green eyes. Her white hair shook as she tilted her head to the side. Aisha nodded as the white-haired girl continued, "Well, I don't think I've seen any come into Elder. In fact, you and two other people are the only visitors I saw in Elder this week."

"Really?" Disappointment settled into Aisha's stomach, and she frowned. "But they _had_ to come through Elder. There's no other way they could have gone!"

"Whoa!" The girl put her hands out to stop Aisha. "I'm not saying that they didn't come into Elder. I'm just saying that I didn't _see_ them come into town. Don't you think that a bandit would slip into town during the night?"

"Still," Aisha protested. "Wouldn't the soldiers have prevented anyone from sneaking into Elder Village?" When Aisha and her comrades arrived at Elder, they were greeted at the gates by two soldiers, who wouldn't let them in for the first five minutes.

"Well." The alchemist glanced around her with a suspicious glint in her eyes. "I don't think the soldiers in Elder can be trusted." She spoke with a soft voice.

"Eh? What do you mean? Isn't it their _job_ to keep Elder Village safe?" The girl had lost Aisha when she said the soldiers couldn't be trusted.

"No, it's not their job to protect Elder," she continued speaking quietly, "The soldiers' jobs are to _serve_ 'Lord Wally' and _protect_ his castle. They don't _have_ to do anything for this village. Which means, if Wally had anything to do with the people who stole Ruben Village's El..." The alchemist stopped talking, leaving an unasked question hanging in the air. _Could it be?_ Aisha wondered silently. _That idea is a little extreme..._

"I... I think I should go now," Aisha decided. She probably wouldn't get any more details from the alchemist. What was she thinking? As if she could receive accurate information from a little girl.

"Alright, come by if you ever need anything." The alchemist gave a small smile. ''People call me Echo, what about you?''

"Aisha," the mage replied. Echo pulled out a large, pink lollipop from her pocket, unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth. She pulled another one out and handed it to Aisha.

"N-no, it's fine. You can keep it." Aisha shook her head. Shrugging, Echo shoved the lollipop back into her pocket and pulled her goggles over her eyes. As Aisha left in the direction of the village's square, Echo stared into a black cauldron, wondering what to make of the thick, red liquid that bubbled inside.

* * *

Around noon, Aisha, Rena, and Elsword reconvened at Elder's square. They were a little more puzzled than before, except Rena. Her emerald eyes shined with knowledge, and her brain was already connecting the facts that she had gathered from Luichel.

"So, what did you guys find out?" Rena looked at Aisha and Elsword inquisitively. They frowned. Aisha spoke first,

"Not much. I asked some alchemist if she saw the bandits come into town, but she just started sprouting some nonsense about unreliable soldiers and whatnot. Probably shouldn't have expected much from a kid though." Rena considered what Aisha said, before turning to Elsword.

"How about you?" she inquired.

"Meh... I didn't find out too much," Elsword admitted sheepishly. "I talked to Hoffman, who apparently deals with all the merchants in Elder, and he said he didn't recall seeing any bandits wandering around the village." Elsword sighed. "He _did_ say that some goods were stolen, though, so I'm pretty sure the thieves came through here at one point. The problem is, I don't know where they possibly could have gone. Past Elder Village is Lord Wally's Castle, so..." Rena grinned, pleased with what Aisha and Elsword presented to her. _It fits in perfectly with what I learned!_ Taking a deep breath, Rena said,

"Okay. Let me tell you what I learned from a former thief. I think the things she told me relate to the information you guys received..." She launched into a narration, recollecting what Luichel had told her. Rena explained how the thieves operated, working under the command of a leader named Banthus. Apparently, they did any sort of job for anyone who would pay decently. Luichel had theorized that someone hired Banthus's group to steal Ruben's El and bring it back to him or her. Aisha and Elsword's eyes widened when Rena posed the idea that Lord Wally could have hired Banthus to take the El.

"There's no way!" Aisha argued. "Why would he do that in the first place?" Rena placed a finger on her lip and shushed her.

"It's only my theory. I'm not saying it's true." Rena thought for a moment. "I think we should go underground, inside Elder Village's waterway. The person that was part of Banthus's gang told me that the waterways were used as a hideout for them at some point." Aisha made a face.

"Eww, I don't want to go inside a wet, mouse-infested tunnel!"

"Then are you implying that we'd have a better chance finding the thieves in Wally's castle?" Elsword asked sardonically.

"No, I just think there's no way that Banthus could have gone to either place," she snapped.

"Then what happened to him _and_ the El?" Elsword questioned. "Did they both happen to disappear into thin air?"

"No-"

"Guys." Rena locked them both under her steely gaze. "Now isn't the time to argue about where you want to have your date." Elsword's face flushed and Aisha flinched. "I suggest that we go through the underground waterways to look for Banthus. Right now, we need to find the El as soon as possible." She left no room for argument.

"F-fine..." Aisha sighed. She summoned her wand in her hand and tightened her pack's straps. "Whenever you're ready, I guess." Nodding, Rena pulled her bow off her shoulder. Elsword unbuckled his crimson sword from his back and hefted it into his hands. "So, where is it?" Aisha asked.

"The woman I spoke to said to look for a grate in the square," Rena responded. "Apparently, the waterway starts directly below it." She scanned the area around them quickly, and her eyes rested on a spot on the ground right in front of a huge, ugly statue of a pot-bellied man dressed in the clothes of a noble. "There!" Rena pointed at the ground in front of the statue. The three of them approached the place, and Elsword read the plaque attached to the statue's pedestal,

"'Lord Wally, the great and generous owner of Wally's Fiefdom.' What the heck?" He scowled, then averted his attention to the ground. Rena was already pulling the grate cover out of the ground. Thankfully, nobody in the village was watching. She didn't blame them though; the area near the ugly statue wouldn't have been her favorite spot to look at during the day. Poking her head through the hole in the ground, Rena immediately withdrew. The stench that came from below overpowered her senses.

"Guys," she coughed. "You might want to hold your breath before you go in." Rena jumped into the hole.

* * *

**SL: Since Elsword and Rena are both hospitalized, Liliqe and SquishyPenny took their roles for this chapter. C:**

**Liliqe: That was hell ;_; playing as Elsword isn't easy...**

**SquishyPenny: I totally fit in my character though! XD**

**Aisha: Indeed, almost as scary as Rena Q_Q**

**SL: Tch... You don't know SquishyPenny... He's worse than that elf.**

***change of topic* Let's move on to the reviews~**

**to Rosamanelle: There you go, out of the emo corner! :D *barricades the corner* Hmm... Creepy stare? I should try that next time :) Yes, Rena and Aisha ****_are_**** connecting, but Rena will show her scary side at some point. No, it's not bad that you cried, though I honestly never thought someone would get emotional over that... Probably because I barely get emotional from reading stories .-. Don't destroy all your emotions like Eve! Because she won't destroy them *cough cough. hint***

**to NekoYinChan: Hmm... that other 3%... I don't think it exists anymore =3= Thank you for the compliment! And yeah, Rena will be more leader-like... Somewhat scary at some times too, maybe?**

**to YuYuYu A: Mixing it. Like a melting pot~ Sorry if it makes you mad QAQ And yay, Raven and Rena XD I don't know exactly when Raven will appear... But he'll probably appear somewhere between Bethma and Altera, since he's the boss of the Black Crow, you know?**

**to xSnowflakesx: Yesh. You do update pretty quickly XP I don't even know how you do that... (DEDICATION RIGHT THERE) And you like penguins? o.o I like owls~ I'm excited for the class changes and every, too :D I think at the end of chapter 9 or beginning of chapter 10-ish... Rena will probably be the first character to get the job advancement. Aisha and Elsword will follow closely behind, of course! DC and Nemesis? Hmm... I don't know about that. For one of them, I'm pretty sure I'm using, but the other one... T^T **

**to destroyerdestroyerdestroyer: Of course! Who ****_can't_**** enjoy your fics? O_O And almost directly like Breathless World? ... Well... I'm reading that fanfiction, but really slowly. After I finish a certain area on my story, I go back to Breathless World and read what the author did for that place. (I really, really hate copying people's ideas) But I guess I'll have to expect this story to be really similar to the other one, since they're both sort of recollections of the overall story in Elsword XP**

**to SquishyPenny: Thanks for the help on this chapter's opening/ending XD (Pro, right there) AND REALLY? I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS AN INN IN ELDER EITHER! (made up)**

**to FANG ee: Aww, thank you's XD Or should I say, 감사합니다****~ (Don't know if you can understand that... Google Translate is there though~) When are the rest of the characters going to make an appearance? Well, if you really want to know, Bethma/Altera (between there) Raven should show up. Then in Altera it should be Eve. She ****_was_**** the queen of Altera, right? Or at least from what I've read... Then in Hamel, I think, Chung should show up. But he could show up earlier... Depends how everything goes.**

**Anyway, that's it for today! Thank you for reading~ :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Good morning! Happy June 1st XD (Posting this on someone's request today before I go to take the poop known as SATs ;_;)**

**SquishyPenny: Omgosh, this only took an hour and 30 minutes to edit!**

**SL: Good job, here's your 50 ED.**

**SquishyPenny: WHAT. YOU SAID 1 MIL ED**

**Gramps: It's better than nothing, son!**

**Liliqe: OMG GRAMPS! WHEN ARE YOU UPLOADING A PICTURE OF YOURSELF ON FACEBOOK?**

**Gramps: Later.**

***Gramps has left***

**SquishyPenny: You scared him!**

**Aisha: I feel left out here...**

**SL: Poor Aisha. *hands her a cupcake* But don't worry, because Elsword and Rena have revived~~~**

**Aisha: O_O YESH.**

**SL: *Kicks SquishyPenny and Liliqe from the story* The original characters may now play their roles C:**

**Chapter begin~**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Conspiracy Plot?**

Disgusting. Completely and utterly gross. The underground waterways made it onto Aisha's top ten list of places she never wanted to be at. The stench of mouse stool and people's excrements overpowered her poor nose. The fact that her traveling boots were currently sloshing through the filthy, green water of the waterways didn't help alleviate the queasiness in her stomach. At least the three of them hadn't been placed in complete darkness when they dropped into the tunnel. Torches hung on the grimy stone walls every few meters, illuminating the murky water. Inhaling the air through her mouth, Aisha trudged through the tunnels with Rena and Elsword. _Don't think about what could be in the water,_ Aisha told herself. _Don't think about it. Think about finding Banthus._

Suddenly, something splashed by Aisha's feet.

"Ack!" she shrieked, jumping back, alarming the two behind her. Elsword stepped forward and bent down, picking something up. Turning to face Aisha and Rena, he held a pink string attached to a lump of gray. It shivered and emitted a pathetic squeak.

"Huh, it's only a Mickey," Rena observed.

"Oh." Aisha stared at it dumbly. Smirking, Elsword tossed the Mickey back into the water.

"So you can beat up giant fireball-shooting trees, but you're completely hopeless when you have to deal with a tiny mouse?" he asked with feigned wonder. Aisha scowled.

"I didn't know what it was!" she said defensively.

"Uh huh." He didn't look really convinced. Aisha glared at him, obviously irritated, and he rolled his eyes. Rena cut off Aisha's stare by tugging on her arm with excessive force.

"Come on~" she said with fake cheerfulness. "I think I heard some voices coming from that direction!" She pointed down the tunnel.

"Really?" Elsword perked up. "Let's go then!" He bolted through the water, disappearing from sight before Aisha had time to yell,

"Wait!" She huffed, annoyed. "That idiot. He's going to get hurt with the way he's acting..."

"Then we should go after him," Rena stated, before dashing through the passage herself. Aisha hurried behind Rena, not wanting to be left behind.

* * *

They were running for only two minutes until they saw a huge, red gate. It bore a wide hole in the middle, the wood at the edges splintered.

"Definitely Elsword," confirmed Aisha. She slipped through the opening and waited for Rena to come before continuing to rush through the tunnel.

**Clash! Bang!** The sound of metal coming in contact with metal resonated through the waterways. Aisha faltered. There was a fork in the tunnel. Rena skidded to a stop beside her, almost causing the dirty water to splash on Aisha's legs. Aisha inched away from Rena, who was tilting her head to listen for any noise. A yell came from the left path.

"That way," Rena motioned. They sprinted through the waterways until the tunnel suddenly opened out to a large room, brightly lit with more torches. The ground here was damp, but not flooded with sewage water, at least. Elsword was there, panting, and the hand holding his scarlet sword trembled. He turned around, his face beaded with sweat.

"You guys took too long. I already finished them off," Elsword muttered, eying the men he had fought, who were all sprawled on the ground. "Was Aisha slowing you down, Rena?"

"Why do you automatically assume-"

"Actually, I was slowing her down," said Rena, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. "Anyway, were these _all_ the people?" she scanned the men on the floor. There were a dozen of them, all of whom were unconscious. Even the two men Rena had seen in Ruben's Forest were there, but... "Wait," Rena murmured. "Banthus isn't-"

"**Argh! Someone's been intruding our base!**" boomed a deep voice. Rena stiffened, slowly moving her eyes toward the room's entrance. Loud footsteps thudded from the tunnels Aisha and Rena had recently been in. Rena gritted her teeth, and from the corner of her eye she saw her two companions tighten their fingers around their weapons, waiting anxiously.

He came, towering over Rena, and his single blue eye flickered around the room in surprise. The ragged mop of hair which covered his face didn't hide the scar that ran along his jaw. Rena's breath caught in her throat. _It's Banthus._ His eyebrows furrowed and he stared at the three with a dark expression.

"Who are you?" he demanded. Next to Rena, Elsword snorted.

"That doesn't matter. We came to take back the El you stole. Now hand it over, before I have to take it back from you by force!" Banthus looked at the boy curiously.

"A kid?" He couldn't resist laughing. "First of all, I don't have the El with me. I gave it away."

"Huh?" Elsword looked dismayed. "To who?" Banthus's mouth twisted into a sneer.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because if you don't, you'll regret it." Elsword lifted his blade and charged. "Eat this!"

* * *

**Clang!** The moment Elsword swung his sword Banthus blocked it with his own. _Crap,_ thought the red-haired boy. He drew back and brought his sword down again, with more force. Blocked. Banthus smirked.

"Not bad, little man!" He withdrew his bayonet and prepared to strike. "But you're going to have to do better than that." The weapon came down. Blocked, this time by Elsword. His crimson eyes blazed.

"Shut up, old bag." He ducked, rolled under Banthus and kicked him in the calf. Growling, Banthus whipped around and brought his sword down to the ground where Elsword was supposed to be. But it was too late; the boy already got behind him and slammed the flat of his blade into his back, knocking him down.

Before the downed bandit could rise, Elsword stuck the tip of his sword in front of his face.

"_Now_, will you tell me who you gave the El to?" The boy stared daggers at him. Despite his situation, Banthus merely snickered.

"As if." Elsword pushed his sword closer to Banthus. "I'm never telling you, little guy." Fuming, he whacked Banthus on the forehead with the flat of his blade. The man was knocked out immediately. _Damn..._ He turned to face Aisha and Rena, scowling.

"Thanks for the help," he said sarcastically.

"Psh. Didn't you see?" Aisha asked. "The thieves you 'finished off' got up and were about to go after you. Rena and I had to take care of them." She looked at Elsword with an exasperated expression.

"No, I didn't see," replied Elsword. "I was a little busy trying to beat up a guy twice my size, in case you didn't notice." Aisha scoffed.

"Well? What do we do now?" They both looked at Rena expectantly. Frowning, she suggested,

"Maybe we should search these guys? We couldn't get anything out of them before they lost their consciousness and they don't have the El, so..." Rena bent down and stuck her hand into a bald man's pants pocket. It came out with nothing, but she repeated this with every man in the room. Elsword stared at Banthus, then stooped down. Slipping his hand into Banthus's pocket, Elsword was surprised to touch something other than worn fabric. His fingers closed around a flat, crinkly object and he pulled it out.

"Guys, I think I found something." Elsword examined the piece of paper he held in his hand before unfolding it. As far as he could tell, it was a letter, but the writing was far too messy for him to decipher. He held the paper out to Rena. "Can you..." She smiled and nodded.

"Let's see... I'm pretty sure the paper says this:

'_Banthus,_

_Have you decided yet? I need Ruben's El, and sooner would be better than later. Also, I decided to raise your reward from 10,000,000 ED to 100,000,000 ED on two conditions. First, you can _not_ let news of this alliance between us escape, no matter what. Second, you must bring me the gigantic stone by the tenth day of this year's eleventh month, and no later. Remember, if you manage to retrieve it by the deadline, I will offer to you the pecuniary reward stated above _and_ the permission to raid Elder Village whenever you please, without the inconvenience of being arrested by my soldiers. I will await your arrival at my castle on the arranged date, expecting the El. Tell the guards at the castle gates your name; they will let you in. I sincerely hope you may accept my request, and that you succeed in this mission._

_With Highest Regards,_

_Lord Wally_

_Post Script: If the El becomes too much of a hassle to carry, you have my tools at your disposal.'"_

* * *

Rena cleared her throat. "That's all..." Aisha gaped at the elf.

"There's no way." She shook her head quickly. "Are you _sure_ you read that correctly?"

"Here." Rena passed the letter to her.

"'Banthus'... 'Retrieve Ruben's El'... 'Permission to raid Elder Village'... 'Lord Wally'." Aisha's face paled. "_Why?_" Rena lifted her shoulders, shrugging.

"I don't know." She sifted through her mind. What reason could someone like Lord Wally have to steal an El? Her knowledge failed her, since she couldn't pinpoint the exact details on the power of El, besides sustaining life.

"We can't stay here," said Elsword, breaking through Rena's thoughts. "Now we know who has the El. And, we have to show that letter to Elder's villagers."

"This is the one time I'll have to agree with him," muttered Aisha. "To think Lord Wally was responsible for this..."

* * *

They traveled back the way they came, through the flooded passages. Lord Wally's letter to Banthus was in Elsword's tight grasp. When Aisha, Elsword, and Rena popped out of the hole in the ground, no one paid them any attention. The statue was there to greet them, though. Elsword stared at it acridly. "'_Great_ and _generous_', huh?" Aisha noted.

The three of them wandered around in search of Hoffman. "Where is he?" asked Aisha, after nearly an hour of wandering about.

"Dunno," said Elsword. Aisha glowered at him.

"How can you _not_ know? You were the one who talked to him." Rena looked at the two of them with concern.

"Geez! I wasn't paying attention, okay?" He scowled.

"Of course you didn't pay attention." Aisha threw her arms out in exasperation. "You _never_ pay attention to anything _important_."

"Aisha..." Rena called gently. She went ignored.

"It wasn't important at the time!" Elsword pointed out.

"Elsword..." the elf said irritably. "Both of you..."

"Well it is _now_," Aisha snapped. "And since you don't remember where Hoffman is, we're wasting time wandering around the village!" Elsword opened his mouth to utter a retort.

"**Quit it!**" shouted Rena. The two of them flicked their gazes to her, eyes wide. She took their silence as an opportunity to rant. "Why are you two always fighting?! Respect each other a little more... Here you are, _wasting time_, arguing about wasting time!" Her emerald eyes glowed dangerously.

"B-but. She-"

"Hmm?" Rena narrowed her eyes and smiled at Elsword.

"N-nothing! Nothing's wrong. Sorry!" he squeaked. She sighed.

"Both of you are still kids. I think... We need to sit down and have a talk about getting along with others." Aisha groaned.

"But we don't have time!" Rena regarded her coolly.

"You'll waste more time _fighting_ with each other in the future if you don't find a way to stop arguing _now_."

"But-"

"Sit," she commanded. They sat down.

* * *

After Rena taught her two companions the importance of getting along and forced them to apologized, the sun was almost setting. It floated just above the horizon, reluctantly sinking lower and lower. The three of them meandered about the village, resuming their search for Hoffman.

"Why do we need to find him, anyway?" asked Aisha. In response, Elsword said,

"He's in charge of all the merchants that come in and out of Elder. I thought it would be best if we let him know the cause of the incidents with the goods." Aisha remained silent.

"Hey, wait!" Elsword stopped in his tracks. "_Now_ I remember!" The two girls stared at him expectantly.

"What?" asked Rena.

"Did you remember where Hoffman is?" Aisha inquired hopefully.

"I remember that..." Elsword's brow furrowed. "Oh right! Hoffman really loves pastry." Aisha almost fell over.

"You know _that_, but not where we can find him?" Aisha asked incredulously. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying any more. The elf standing next to her held an intimidating air ever since she showed... her dark side. Sighing, Elsword said,

"I just thought Hoffman might be in the square buying pastries from some of the merchants."

"That's actually a good idea," Rena commended. She kicked Aisha's leg.

"Ow!- I mean... Yeah. I guess." The mage stared acidly at Rena, who simply ignored her.

"Let's give it a try then~" Rena suggested.

Sure enough, Hoffman was at the village square, speaking with the raspberry pastry seller. However, he was not smiling, and it didn't seem like he was there to buy a snack. As the group approached the two men, Aisha caught a few words of their conversation.

"I assure you, you're not the only one this happened to," Hoffman said to the pastry seller.

"I don't care about _that_," the merchant complained. "I'm not getting paid for the full worth of my goods!" Hoffman responded,

"Neither are the other people who got their items stolen. I'm afraid you'll just have to wait until we find out who's behind the robbery." The man's eyes flashed indignantly.

"This is outrageous! I'm missing _half_ of my raspberry tarts and you're saying to 'wait'?!"

"Umm... Excuse me," Rena said hesitantly. The two men turned and faced her. "Would you mind sparing some of your time?" She directed the question at Hoffman.

"Sure, young lady," Hoffman complied. He seemed relieved to be released from the angry bread man. "What is it?" Rena motioned him away from the merchant. He moved to the bench where Aisha and Elsword had had breakfast earlier. Rena started by saying,

"I heard that some of the merchants in Elder have been getting their merchandise stolen lately. Is this true?" She stopped to peer at Hoffman, who nodded before questioning,

"And where did you hear this from?" Rena gestured behind her, toward Aisha and Elsword.

"Ah!" Hoffman's eyes lit up with recognition as soon as he noticed the young boy. "You're the child who visited me this morning! Well, what brings you here again?" Elsword held Wally's letter out.

"We found an explanation for the things that happened the past few days. This was in the underground waterways." Accepting the letter, Hoffman unfolded it. As he read it, his face blanched. Then, his eyes filled with bitter anger.

"That good-for-nothing Wally!" he spat out. "Typical for him to pull something like this." Handing the paper back to Elsword, Hoffman uttered, "Thank you. At least now I know who's behind the theft of the goods." He looked at the boy in the eye. "I must ask, what is it that led you to find this letter? In fact, what is your business in Elder Village?" He addressed the latter to Rena and Aisha.

"Old man," said Elsword. "I told you earlier about the thieves who stole Ruben's El, right?"

"That you did," Hoffman confirmed.

"Aisha and Rena are looking for the El with me." Elsword began to recollect the events that had taken place over the course of three days: how the El was stolen, how he, Rena, and Aisha were dispatched to retrieve it, and how they had encountered Banthus in the underground waterways of Elder.

"I see," said Hoffman, once Elsword had finished speaking. "So _Wally_ now has possession of your village's El shard..." Scratching his chin, he murmured, "The only thing you can do is confront Wally himself for it, but a direct attempt to barge into his castle would be too risky." He seemed to be deep in thought, but his face soured before he said, "I'm afraid you'll have to ask Luichel for advice on sneaking into the castle."

"Is someone looking for me?" a woman's voice inquired. Turning around, Aisha found herself face-to-face with a amber-haired lady.

"Luichel!" Rena exclaimed joyfully.

"Oh, it's you Rena!" the lady - whose name was apparently Luichel - said in recognition. Her almond-colored eyes sparkled mischievously. "Have you tried the waterways yet?" Bobbing her head up and down, Rena replied,

"We actually found out a lot of information on Banthus... And Wally." She explained everything that had happened in the underground waterways. To Aisha's slight mortification, Rena hadn't bothered to exclude the mage's scene with the Mickey. Luichel listened intently, and her expression grew dark when Rena described Wally's letter.

"So that's why he cut off all means of communication with us," said Luichel. She studied the three. "I'm assuming you need a way to get into the castle?"

"That's exactly it," said Rena. "Would you happen to know any way into it, other than going to the front gate?"

"Of course," Luichel said matter-of-factly. "Wally's castle used to be my own playground back when I used to run around with Banthus's group." Out of the corner of her eye, Aisha thought she saw Hoffman shoot the woman a distasteful look. Luichel continued, "Do you remember coming upon a split in the waterways?" Rena blinked.

"Yeah, Aisha and I took the left path from there. Why do you ask?" Luichel's lips curved into a small smile.

"If you want to get into the castle, you'll have to take the right path in the tunnel instead of the left. It stretches for roughly half a mile before it stops. At the end, you'll be right under a grate, and above it, you'll find yourself in Wally's personal washroom. One time I was there when he was in the middle of-" Luichel caught herself, remembering Aisha and Elsword were listening. "Never mind. Anyway, that's the fastest route you can take to Wally's castle, unless you want to barge in through the front gates."

"Ah, thanks Luichel!" Rena's eyes shone with gratitude.

"Anytime." The former bandit grinned. "Is there anything else you need to know?"

"I don't think so," said Rena.

"Okay." Luichel glanced at the sky for a moment. "It's getting late. I'd better head back to my shop." As she turned to leave, she said, "Good luck on getting Ruben's El back. I have a feeling you'll need it..."

* * *

**SL: Whew. That ends the chapter.**

**Liliqe: I wish I got to act in this one... Elsword hit Banthus in the face D:**

**SquishyPenny: And Rena scared the hell out of Aisha and Elsword... WHY COULDN'T I DO THAT?**

**Elsword and Rena: *closes in on Liliqe and SquishyPenny***

**Rena: You... *pulls out a grenade***

**SquishyPenny: SAVE ME, PENGUIN GOD DX I'M GONNA DIE!**

**Elsword: *draws sword and chases Liliqe***

**Liliqe: *running for her life* WHY AM I BEING CHASED? AISHA'S THE ONE WHO HOSPITALIZED YOU.**

**Aisha: *looks up from her book* Hmm?**

**Elsword: I DON'T CARE WHO PUT ME IN THE HOSPITAL. YOU'RE A GOD-DAMNED AWFUL ACTOR. FOR THAT, YOU'RE GONNA PAY.**

**Liliqe: HELP ME! *cries while running around***

**SL: Huh. o.o Well then, let's move on to the reviews~**

**to Rosamanelle: Thank you XD And, I love your story so far! (needs to post a review soon T_T) Keep writing! I'll be waiting for your next chapter :)**

**to NekoYinChan: Really?! That makes me so happy :'D And you have an RS? Man, that's cool. I always wanted one but I don't fight well with classes like Elsword or Raven... MAYBE YOU CAN TAKE SKILLZ'S PLACE WITH YOUR RS. And with Aisha being HM or EM? Maybe~ That will appear in chapter 10 :D And DC, I'm probably using, but CN? Well... When I asked some guildmates about it, the only character that actually got a reason was CEmp, which was: "She can be like an ojou-sama and Chung will serve as her guard." Yeah.**

**to SquishyPenny: YES YOU DID XD (thanks again for the editing and the openings :P)**

**to HaiDhere: Thank you's~ :D**

**to Syup: I'm glad that you like it XD And your small question... Wow. Do you play EM by any chance? That is some hyperactivity going on in the review box. I won't post the answer here, but I'll PM you eventually ;)**

**to YuYuYu A: :D Raven will be a baws when he appears as a boss~ Maybe get his butt kicked, but oh wells~ And gosh, didn't you get a foot cramp from doing that? O_o Thank you though XD**

**to destroyerdestroyerdestroyer: For some reason, I always like seeing your name in the reviews :D (maybe I like typing it...) And whoa... Dramatic there O_O And yesh, they both are~ Also, I rage quit trying to restrict my BW reading. I'm reading the whole thing T_T**

**to xSnowflakesx: Lol, I actually do my homework the first day I get it, because if I procrastinate... I can't live with myself. And nice, A's :D Class changes~ Yay~ And yeah, Luichel was in Banthus's group. It was actually a side quest, not a story quest. AND, I'm reading ElType XD**

**Now let's re-post this chapter without all the typos and hurriedness~ (oh hey, that's not a word :D)**


	9. Chapter 9

**SL: ALRIGHT. SHORT CHAPTER. WOOT. But warning: chapter 10 will be... long. AND. I'M SORRY. BUT I'M GOING ON HIATUS UNTIL SCHOOL'S OVER AFTER I POST CHAPTER 10. T_T (because of finals and other school junk)**

**Elsword: WAIT WHAT? YOU'RE GOING ON HIATUS SOON? YESH!**

**SL: o-o Someone's excited... A little too excited... And the hiatus won't be until after chapter ten, and it'll only be until the end of the school year? That's like... June 20 something... No idea.**

**Aisha: NUUUUUU. NO MORE WRITING ABOUT ME UNTIL THE END OF JUNE? WHYYYY? WHY CHU STOPPING?**

**SL: ... One: the story isn't entirely about you. (haven't we been over this?) Two: CHAPTER TEN. YOU'LL LIKE IT. IT HAS A LOT OF STUFF ABOUT YOU.**

**Aisha: :D**

**SL: And Elsword.. Sorta.**

**Elsword: o.o**

**Aisha: ._.**

**Rena: Where will I be?**

**SL: Umm... You're in chapter 9. In chapter 10, you show up here and there.. I guess.**

**Rena: ._.**

**Raven, Chung, and Eve: *looks at SL expectantly***

**SL: You guys will have to wait. o-o**

**Everyone: You are a disappointment, did you know that?**

**SL: T_T Whatever. Commence the short chapter~**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Breaking In**

After Luichel and Hoffman left, Aisha, Elsword and Rena hurried back into the waterways, taking the right path this time. Just as the former bandit had said, the tunnel led to another grate. Climbing up a set of metal rungs and pushing the grate's cover aside, Elsword stuck his head out of the floor of the castle's washroom. Luckily, no one was currently occupying it. Sighing in relief, he pulled himself up onto the floor and ushered the other two up.

"Ugh, finally out of that stinky sewage system," muttered Aisha. "It smelled like a million Elswords down there." He ignored her, but self-consciously sniffed himself. _I don't smell _that _bad, do I?_ Rena scanned the room for an exit. A door was on the other side of the washroom. The group quietly stalked toward the door, and upon opening it, they found themselves facing a very surprised looking soldier. Before he could open his mouth to shout, Elsword conked him on the head with his sword, causing the man to fall on the ground, dazed.

"Nice move," whispered Rena. "Now let's hurry." The three darted through the castle, with no specific destination in mind. They barged into every room, expecting to see _someone_ or _something_ in them, but to no avail. Besides the single soldier they had encountered outside the washroom, Elsword, Rena, and Aisha found no other person in Wally's castle.

"Huh, nice defense this place has," Elsword mused. Glowering at him, Aisha muttered,

"Shut up." Her patience wasn't necessarily wearing thin because of _him_, but because of the whole situation. They had been searching the area for nearly half an hour now, with no visible progress. Elsword scowled at Aisha, but didn't say anything, since Rena was now watching them carefully.

"There's only one place we haven't checked," said the elf, "which is the courtyard." Under a silent agreement, the three hurried off to the back exit. When they reached the courtyard, an enormous airship was there to greet them. Aisha gasped when she saw the craft hovering a safe distance off the ground. It was huge - maybe half the size of the castle - and it harbored several dozen soldiers, from what Aisha could see. Most importantly, Lord Wally was there, on top of the deck.

"So _that's_ where everyone was," Elsword grumbled. "And here we wasted time looking through a castle for nonexistent people." Aisha gave him an acerbic stare when a voice called down from above.

"Who _are_ you people?" She whipped her head up to meet Wally's eyes. Shooting a fiercer look at him than she had at Elsword, the mage yelled,

"We know _you're_ the one with Ruben's El! Now hand it over!" The pot-bellied man took on a more worried expression and his face paled,

"Th-that's ridiculous! Where did you here that from?" Elsword snorted petulantly, his eyes flickering with annoyance,

"Come on, old man. Stop with that act. It was all in the letter _you_ sent to Banthus." He held out the paper he had found in the waterways, and the lord gaped at it,

"W-what. I told him to destroy all the letters I gave- OH SNAP!" Wally clapped his hands over his mouth. Slowly removing them, he said, "I guess this leaves me no choice then. Whether you are children or not, the three of you are still threats to my reputation. I regret having to do this, but I can't have anyone else know about my own plans." He called over his shoulder, "Number Eight!" Behind Wally, a huge robot stepped forward, its footsteps causing the airship to creak. It turned to face the man, seeming to be awaiting orders. "Eliminate them." Wally pointed at the trio. Immediately, the robot took to the air. Somehow, the arms at its sides acted as little rockets to launch it upward. The abomination came closer and closer to Aisha, and now she could see it clearly enough to make out most of the details on it: the dull, brown metal body, its stubby blue arms and legs, and the rotating red orb on it's... head?

"What the hell _is_ that thing?" Elsword demanded. The lord looked down at him and said,

"Nasod technology at its very finest, if you must know. By the way, I have to go now. I apologize for this having to be your end, but," He clicked his tongue, "this is what you get for being such nosy children."

"I'm not a child!" Aisha practically screamed. "I'm just short!" Wally shrugged.

"Whatever. It's not going to matter in a few minutes, anyway." He turned his back on them and yelled out order to his soldiers. Soon, the airship was moving away, fleeing from Wally's castle.

"Oh, no you don't!" Aisha ran after the ship, as if traveling on foot would get her there successfully.

"Aisha!" Rena's voice came frantically from behind her. "Watch out for-" **Smack!** Suddenly, the purple-haired girl was airborne, but seconds later, her skull hit the ground with a sickening crack. She pushed herself upright and looked around, her vision swarming,

"R-Rena? Elsword? Why are there five of you? And... Was the world always spinning?" Rena gave her a worried look.

"Psh, there aren't five of us, genius," the five Elswords muttered. "Your brain must be all jacked up." Aisha mumbled,

"How was I-" A creak of metal resounded from behind her. She whipped her head around to come face-to-face with the robot, well, five robots in this case.

"Kyah!" The mage shrieked and scrambled away, while a painful headache threatened to split her skull. Elsword swore under his breath.

"What did that asshole say this was? Nasod?" Rena nodded slowly, her eyes fixed on the robot. "Well, what's a nasod?"

"I'll explain later," she promised. "_After_ we get rid of that thing. Aisha," the elf called, "Do you think you can fight?" Groaning, Aisha pushed herself up to her feet.

"I think I can one way or another." Her head was still assaulting her with pain, but at least now she wasn't seeing extra Renas, robots, or even worse - Elswords. Rena nodded, then dashed toward the nasod.

* * *

It raised its stubby arm and brought it down, narrowly missing Rena's head. _Snap._ She dashed behind it and swiftly shot an arrow. It bounced off, hardly even leaving a scratch in the robot's armor. _What?!_ Charging up to the robot, Rena jumped into the air and did a somersault, then kicked it in the side. Bad idea.

"Ow!" She cried out, half limping and half running away. In her wake, Elsword sprinted at the thing and swung his sword. **Clang!** The blade also bounced off harmlessly, not even leaving the smallest dent in the nasod's side.

"The hell?!" The boy leapt to the side, barely evading a boulder-shattering swing of the nasod's arm. Aisha reached into the magic that was always within her, wincing when her head jolted violently. Breathing slowly, she searched her mind for the correct words, then yelled,

"Comburent eam, meteoron meum!" The girl summoned a mini blazing sun and hurled it at the robot. They came in contact, the fiery magic heating the metal a bright red. Aisha stretched out her arms and uttered an unintelligible word. At that instant, her ball of fire exploded, and the robot whirred furiously, barreling toward her.

"Aisha!" her companions yelped. They rushed forward to help. Too late. The nasod abomination flung the mage into the air with a single sweep of its mechanical arm. She hit the ground again, passing out immediately.

"No!" screamed Rena. She bolted toward the broken body of her companion, only to be intercepted by the nasod. It thrust its arm into the ground, missing its target. Rena had back flipped into the air and shot three arrows at it, but they were deflected. _How do we beat this thing..._ Scanning its exterior, which was slightly scorched from Aisha's magic, the elf hit upon something she should have realized before. _Of course!_ "Elsword," she intoned. "Run up to the nasod and attack it, after I fire my next arrow." He eyes her dubiously.

"But it won't do anything!"

"It will," she promised. From her quiver, she drew a fiery-red arrow. _Elder said I should only use this in an emergency, since it requires a lot of magic to activate..._ She huffed, sliding the arrow into place and taking aim. _I guess this _would _count as one._ "Get ready," she warned the boy. He nodded obediently, raising his sword. "Now!" Rena released the bowstring, letting the arrow fly. Elsword trailed behind it as its form shifted. The arrow burst into flames and took on the shape of a bird as it hit the nasod. After the bird passed through the robot, it faded away; Rena ran out of magic energy to sustain it. A second later, Elsword thrust his crimson sword into the robot. The metal had melted from Rena's arrow, allowing Elsword's sword to slice through it like a knife through butter. Unfortunately, that was the peak of their success. Several problems erupted afterward. Sparks ran down the nasod's exterior, forcing Elsword to back off. It whirled around, jolted by spasms. The boy's sword was still stuck in it.

"Ah! Crap!" He rolled to the side to avoid the nasod. Rena slid to the ground, her power drained from activating her flaming arrow. She watched helplessly as Elsword darted around, dangerously close to colliding with the spinning nasod. Suddenly, it stopped. Elsword sighed, but his relief was short lived. The robot whirred and raised its arms, firing missiles into the air. They came after all three of them, exploding when they touched something. Without a moment's hesitation, Rena crawled over to Aisha and covered her, preparing to take all the hits aimed at the girl. **Boom!** Elsword fell to the ground, his eyes closed. Three of the missiles had hit him directly. The rest of them were coming toward Rena. She braced herself. **Boom!** The first one hit, but no others came, though she _did_ hear them detonate. The elf opened her eyes slightly. She was swaying to the side, dazed from the explosion and her vision was a blur. Before her flickered a flash of green. Another one. Then the nasod fell over, before Rena slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

**SL: :D Yay~**

**Aisha: ...**

**Elsword: ...**

**Rena: ...**

**SL: Well? o.o Say something..**

**Aisha: I got a concussion? Or did I fracture my skull...**

**SL: Ah.. I dunno. More of concussion I'd say?**

**Elsword: THIS IS INACCURATE. MY SWORD CAN KILL ANYTHING IN THE GAME.**

**SL: Screw the game.**

**Rena: Why did phoenix strike run out so quickly?**

**SL: Your magic is weak :P**

**Aisha: What move did I just use..**

**SL: Meteor call. Isn't it obvious?**

**Everyone: *shakes head***

**SL: Poop. Doesn't matter. On to the re-**

**Rena: Wait. What happened at the end?**

**SL: *dodges question* o-o Review time~**

**to destroyerdestroyerdestroyer: IKR?! I want that ED... Has anyone noticed how much more money Elsword gave after the field update? My guildmate said something about getting 3 million quickly... Wow. Yeah, *ahem* Anyway... Yeah. Banthus, that lucky shet. ;_; AND BY THE WAY, I SAW YOUR VOID PRINCESS IN HAMEL. T_T (But I was too scared to say hi)**

**to NekoYinChan: LOL? You reviewed as a guest? XD Thank you, I guess. And B rank? :O Wow... I feel so noob now XD The highest I can get on pvp for my EM is a C... But it's blue. So I deal with it o.o And yeah, I will try RS, or at least MK. I ****_do_**** need to know the skills and gameplay for it, so I'm basically playing every character I'm putting in my story... o-o; And, I see what you mean, but how my guild mate put it was: Empress has Oberon and Ophelia as two bodyguards, and Chung would be the third, which is why she's more like an ojou-sama. No? **

**to sOdAPopgrl133: I might have butchered your name... Not sure. AND LOL, you read this after you ate breakfast? I'm glad, but also not glad at the same time XD Glad that the story could have that effect, and not glad that... you could throw up. Yeah. o-o And thank you for your compliment~ :'D (feels like crying)**

**to Rosamanelle: Yesh. Class changes~ They're next chapter, btw :D And Eve, Chung, and Raven. Can't wait to get to them, but we need a little bonding time between Aisha, Elsword, and Rena, before they meet other people. They can be like a family and be all tight and close, and then adopt the other three~ I'm rambling, aren't I? Yes. I'm rambling.**

**to YuYuYu A: YESH. GET PWNED. THAT'S IT. XD But Raven must put up a good fight. I remember when I was a newbie to the game... He was the first boss who truly scared me.. And curiosity about the Elgang's jobs? Well, I have a pretty firm decision for most of the characters, but they could change at some point since my guild mates' and reviewers' requests could shift my opinion on what to turn everyone into. But for Rena, Elsword, and Aisha, I'm definitely sure about what they're advancing into. In fact, chapter 10 will have them all advancing owo**

**to Skyra Moon: Hello~ Thank you! :D So kind... I don't know what else to say, BUT I'LL SAY THIS. UPDATEEEEEEEEE your letters to kill3r combos. PLOX. (stalking the story currently) It's. So. Damn. Hilarious. And even better: IT'S SO ACCURATE. OMGGG. *spasm***

**to xSnowflakesx: Psh, don't worry. I took so long to review your story too T_T (failure here) And yeah, it was... Luichel's Secret Origin, I think that's what it was called. I usually don't do side quests, but recently I started developing the habit of doing them. I like clear quest boards... or mostly clear quest boards... (OCD-ness) Usually, I skip through the dialogue and everything, but hey, if you have like... over 10 characters... It's kind of hard to not notice this side quest... AND BY THE WAY, I SAW YOUR CHARACTER IN ELSWORD TOO. (But I was also too scared to say hi ;_;)**

**SL: There we go. Time to go to church o.o**

**Rena: Before you leave, what happened at the end?**

**SL: o-o Nothing.**

**Elsword: Hey, I'm wondering too, actually. What happened? Seriously.**

**SL: You shall find out in chapter 10~**

**Aisha: I want to know now. o_O**

**SL: chapter 10.**

**Aisha: Now.**

**SL: *ahem* NEXT CHAPTER.**

**Everyone: Now, plox.**

**SL: Alright, so what happened was-**

***SL has fled the room***

**TROLOLOLOL**

**Everyone: ...**

**Seeya next week~**


	10. Chapter 10

**SL: Hey everyone~ Last chapter before a brief hiatus XD**

**Aisha: o-o**

**Elsword: ._.**

**Rena: *picking at nails***

**SL: ...**

**Aisha: o.o**

**Elsword: o.o**

**Rena: o.o**

**SL: o.o**

**Raven: o.o**

**Gramps: C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER.**

**Elsword: DUDE. YOU BROKE THE CHAIN D:**

**SL: Wait, gramps, why are you here?**

**Gramps: I was hiding from Liliqe and Penny o-o**

**SL: Why?**

**Gramps: They were bothering me...**

**SL: Was it about uploading your facebook picture?**

**Gramps: Maybe.**

**SL: By the way, when are you doing that?**

**Gramps: Later.**

***Gramps has left the room***

**SquishyPenny: YOU SCARED HIM AGAIN.**

**SL: Wait what? What are you doing here? o.0**

**Liliqe: We were hiding... Waiting to ambush gramps.**

**SL: ... Why are you guys in this room.**

**Aeres: Who knows. *sips milkshake* They're pretty crazy .-.**

**SL: AERES. WHY ARE YOU HERE TOO?**

**Aeres: Huh? *looks around* Oh hey, I'm in your story o.o**

**SL: Nuh uh D:**

***Liliqe, SquishyPenny, and Aeres have been kicked from the room***

**SL: Phew.**

**Aisha: ...**

**Elsword: ...**

**Rena: You do realize that that was your imagination, right? You didn't have to put them in the room.**

**SL: Really? o-o**

**Rena: You should stop putting your guildmates randomly in your openings. You're boring the readers.**

**SL: Whoops... Oh well. I'll stop doing that once I actually get opening ideas. For now, start the story~ **

**(And Aisha... You're going to love the first paragraph XD)**

* * *

**Chapter 10: A Magician's Past**

Softness. Comforting softness. Not the smooth, velvety kind of a noble's clothing, but one that lulled someone in and out of sleep. It was better than anything Aisha had felt the past week, and it was certainly an improvement from the cold, rough stone ground of Wally's castle courtyard. Oh. That's right. She was supposed to be in the courtyard, bleeding on the ground. Yet, why was it so peaceful? This warmness. Was she already dead? The silence. Wait, no. There was snoring, from someone near her. Curiously, Aisha cracked her eyes open, temporarily blinded by the sunlight that filtered into the room. _Where..._ When her vision adjusted to the brightness, she saw Elsword, right next to her... On the bed.

"What the hell?!" Aisha shrieked and shoved herself away, falling onto the floor with an unpleasant thud. "Uhh..." Screwing her eyes shut, she massaged her temples. Her brain felt as if it were being smashed by a hammer. It throbbed dully, though the pain wasn't as bad as it was at the castle when she fell on the ground. Twice. _Where am I?_ She examined her surroundings. The room wasn't exactly large, but it wasn't too small either. Only one window existed, past the foot of the bed. A tiny makeshift kitchen occupied a corner across the room and next to it, a wooden door. Beside the bed was a side table with all of her and Elsword's belongings and something that appeared to be a note. Making her way over to the table, Aisha peeked over the edge, reading the words jotted down in elegant script on the paper,

"'_Aisha, Elsword,_

_I hope you both are fine, though I'm not sure when you'll be waking up. An alchemist by the name of Echo took us in and has been taking care of us. Though I didn't understand her reason for this at first, she told me something that... I'll explain later. For now, take care of each other and thank Echo. She said you can stay in her dwelling as long as you need to. I'll be out of town by the time you read this, taking care of some unfinished business, but I'll try to return as soon as I can. DON'T FIGHT WITH EACHOTHER!_

_~ Rena_

_P.S. Aisha, I'd appreciate it if you would teach Elsword how to use magic.'" _Aisha slumped on the ground, leaning away from the side table. "No way am I doing that," she muttered.

"Hey, I don't like it either, but what do you think will happen when Rena comes back?" Aisha whipped her head around, startled to hear Elsword's voice.

"Since when were you awake?!" she demanded. The boy stretched his arms and gave a huge yawn.

"I dunno. I woke up when _somebody_ decided to scream, 'what the hell?!' right in my face." Aisha's face flushed faintly.

"W-whatever." Looking away, she asked, "What now? We don't know where Rena is or how long it'll take before she comes back, so..."

"Isn't it obvious?" questioned Elsword. The girl looked at him. "You teach me magic."

"No, I won't," Aisha replied curtly, making it clear that it wasn't going to happen.

"Yes you will, because otherwise, when that she-devil elf comes back, we're both screwed," the boy said.

"She said she would _appreciate it_, not that I _have_ to do it," pointed out the mage. Elsword scoffed,

"You know Rena. If she said she'd 'appreciate' it, it means, 'If you don't do this, you're dead meat.' Or did you already forget the last time we made her angry?" Aisha shuddered. Rena wasn't one to annoy. Despite the fact she usually wore a smile that could brighten the whole room, when she was provoked...

"Fine," the magician gave in. "I'll teach you, but only because Rena wants me to." She scowled, imagining the difficulty of instructing a thick-headed kid like Elsword.

"Great." The boy swung his legs over the side of the bed, facing Aisha. "So what do I do?"

"First," she directed. "You let me eat breakfast and look for Echo. I want to find out a few things first. You can learn magic once I'm done." She pushed herself up from the ground and gathered her belongings. Elsword's eyebrows knit together.

"But what if Rena comes back today?" Heading out the door, Aisha answered,

"I doubt she would, if she's out of town."

* * *

Finding Echo wasn't that hard. Her home was apparently attached to her own shop, so Aisha only needed to walk a few steps before she spotted the girl brewing one of her steamy concoctions at the front of the room. Without looking up from her cauldron, the alchemist said,

"Finally awake?"

"Y-yeah..." said Aisha. "Thanks, by the way, for letting us stay here." This time, Echo turned and faced her.

"No problem! In condition the three of you were in, I couldn't leave you out on the streets or anything like that." A question suddenly popped up in Aisha's head, and she had to ask,

"Do you know what happened to Wally?"

"Hmm? He probably got away."

"What about the nasod?"

"Got beaten up. Then it flew away, probably searching for Wally."

"Did you beat up the nasod?" Aisha asked in disbelief. The white-haired girl regarded her closely for a brief moment, before bursting out in laughter.

"Nah, I don't fight. Only make potions. A group of people carried the three of you here and asked me to look after you. They told me what they saw and your friend, Rena, filled in the rest of the details. Then she left, following the group and saying she'd come back as soon as she could." Echo stopped and returned to her cauldron, mixing the liquid in it and adding in measured amounts of various herbs. Aisha watched, letting some time pass before questioning,

"Exactly who were the people who rescued us?" The alchemist chuckled,

"That's - a - se - cret~"

"What?" Aisha stared at her incredulously.

"Don't worry. Rena will probably tell you everything when she comes back, and if she doesn't... Well, it's still not something for me to tell you." Pouting, Aisha changed the subject.

"Would you happen to have books that teach incantations of any sort?" She dug into her pack and pulled out a thin volume titled, _Fundaments for Basic Magic_. "I'm running out of spells to use and I want to learn more..." Echo peeked at the book over her shoulder, still stirring.

"Hmm... I might have something for you." She grabbed a ladle and glass vial from her table, scooping the contents of the cauldron into the vial. Corking it, she grabbed another vial and filled it, repeating this process until the cauldron was empty. Aisha waited patiently as the alchemist plodded over to the shelves in her shop. They were crammed with books, mostly ones that gave information on alchemy and the effects of different plants. She pulled out several of them and shoved them back on the shelf before coming upon the one she wanted. "Found it~" She turned towards Aisha with a thick, leather-bound grimoire in her hands. "Here." She handed it to the mage. "A former magician from the south gave this to me when she didn't need it anymore. She told me to learn magic to defend myself, and I read a few pages, but..." Echo shrugged. "I just never had an interest for fighting." Aisha leafed through the pages, skimming various elemental spells and their descriptions.

"Wow... This is... a lot... Wait." She stopped in the middle of the grimoire. "What's this?" She picked up a small, ruby pin and showed it to Echo. The alchemist looked at it blankly for a moment, then replied,

"Oh, right. I think Luichel gave that to me a long time ago." Aisha examined the pin skeptically.

"You mean the former bandit?" Waving that question aside, Echo said,

"She's the accessory shopkeeper, too, you know. I think she said she enchanted that thing... let magic energy flow through the person who wore it more freely, and to amplify - I'm pretty sure that's the word she used - the amount of energy one could use at a time. Something like that, at least." Aisha tried handing the pin back to Echo, but the girl shook her head. "I have no use for that, so you can have it too, if you want."

"Really?" The purple-haired girl asked doubtfully. "Are you sure? Because if Luichel gave this to _you_-"

"It's fine. If you don't use it, then it'll be sitting in one of my books for another ten years. Here." Echo plucked the pin from Aisha's hand and turned her around. She pulled the mage's mauve hair out of its two short pigtails and pulled it back.

"Ow, ow, ow," Aisha muttered quietly. The alchemist took the hair and tied it up in a tight bun, placing the ruby pin in as a finishing touch.

"There!" She stepped back and admired her work on Aisha's hair. Aisha touched her hair, fingering the red pin. "Well," Echo moved to her table and packed up her equipment, "I didn't get to eat, yet. Do you and the other boy want to join me for breakfast?" Aisha's stomach groaned loudly at the mention of food. She opened her mouth to speak, but Elsword beat her to it.

"Of course." Aisha whirled around and saw the boy stepping into the shop from the back room. He ignored her stare and asked Echo, "Do you have any pastry?"

* * *

"The Night Watchers?" Rena repeated, wondering if she had heard wrong. The other elf in front of her nodded. Rena hesitated. "So even if I join you, I _can_ return to my friends. Am I right?"

"If that is what you wish," the other one answered. "Our group utilizes a special type of magic to hunt down those who disturb the peace of Elrios. As long as you use the powers we give you for a noble purpose, then we have no problem with it." Sighing in relief, Rena said,

"I see. So what do I do now, before going back to Elder?" The first elf handed her a scroll.

"These are instructions for learning the combat techniques we use. It is written in our native tongue, but you should be able to read it." Cautiously unfurling the scroll, Rena skimmed through the text, finding that it was written in the complicated runes of her race. She faltered when she read information regarding a technique that required a dagger. "As for acquiring a blade," the person across her seemed to read her mind, "you will need to travel to Eldrasil." Rena's face paled.

"Isn't that place a day's trip from here?" Even from her current location, it would take Rena at least three days to return to Elder. Leaving her two comrades alone for so long... If they ran into more people like Wally-

"You need not worry about them," the second elf said quietly. "As soon as you retrieve your weapon, you may return. And, the alchemist can be trusted. She will make sure your friends stay out of danger." Staring at her incredulously, Rena observed,

"It's as if you know my every thought."

"That is because they show in your eyes," the same person stated blatantly. "Anyhow, are you ready to depart?"

* * *

_Chain Burst: Release dozens of fireballs in multiple directions and end with one, slightly large and more powerful fireball that burns the enemy. Magic Missile: Summon a glowing magic missile that automatically targets opponents with extreme homing and hits them. Blaze Step: Summon fire by your feet, causing anyone on the ground to catch on fire once stepped on, and enemies will continuously get damaged. Warning: consumes a great deal of magic energy. Infernal Wave: Unleash a combination of three attacks of the staff, a lightning bolt, then finish with a meteor-_ The sound of fingers thrumming loudly on the wooden table stopped Aisha's reading. She looked up, and Elsword was sitting on the side of the bed, staring at nothing in particular, with a bored expression on his face. He continued tapping obnoxiously on the table. Aisha eventually had to slam her grimoire shut and demand,

"Can you _stop_ that?" Turning to face her, he asked,

"Stop what?" The mage rolled her eyes.

"Being noisy. I'm _trying_ to read."

"But I'm bored," Elsword complained. "Plus, you didn't teach me anything yet, besides the fact you're a book-obsessed nerd."

"Why do I even need to teach you anything?" snapped Aisha. "It's not like you'd listen to what I say, anyway." Scowling at the girl, Elsword dared her,

"Try me." So she did. Sighing, Aisha set aside her grimoire for advanced elemental magic and she ruffled into her pack, bringing out her _Fundaments for Basic Magic_ book. Tossing it to Elsword, she said,

"Read that." At first, Elsword picked it up confidently, sure that he would prove the annoying tomboy-magician wrong about him. However, when he flipped through the pages of the thin book...

"I don't understand this," he muttered. "It's all gibberish."

"It's _Latin_," Aisha corrected him.

"Just as good as gibberish," Elsword whined. "I can't read Latin!" Glowering at him harshly, Aisha growled,

"What _can_ you read then?"

"English, like thousands of other people in Elrios."

"Well, reading a magic textbook _requires_ you to understand Latin."

"Why? Why couldn't people write them in English?"

"All incantations are spoken in Latin, idiot. Otherwise, they won't work that well or last very long."

"Why won't they work well in English?" At this question, Aisha's eyes widened.

"Don't you know _anything_ about magic?" Elsword nodded. "What."

"One: you speak gibberish. Two: fireballs pop out of your hand. That's all there is to it, right?" Sighing and wearing a God-help-me expression, Aisha rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Clueless, Elsword raised his head to look up there too, but nothing was there. Aisha murmured,

"Since it's Rena who asked, I'll still have to teach you. But, it won't be as easy as I thought."

"And why is that?" the boy glanced at her.

"Because you don't know Latin," she stated simply.

"Again," Elsword said exasperatedly, "Why Latin?" Aisha thought of how to answer, then explained,

"Latin was... the universal language several thousand years ago," she began slowly. "Later, it was replaced with English, but during the time Latin was the language everyone used, people developed the techniques and skills to convert their natural energy into magic. Thought English was technically derived from Latin, trying to cast a spell using words from the modern language won't be as effective as casting one with words from the ancient language. That's why, practically all magic-users need to know Latin." After all the information sank it, Elsword said very quietly,

"Oh."

"You see now?" asked Aisha. Nodding his head slowly, Elsword said,

"So what now? I don't know Latin, so..."

"Hmm... Trying to teach you will be tricky." The girl contemplated over all the options she had, and in the end, only came up with two viable options. "Okay." She scrutinized Elsword, as if doing so would give her an answer. "You have two choices: either learn a whole new language or I can give you a few incantations to memorize."

"Please. Not an entire language," begged the boy.

"Alright, I'll give you a few phrases later," said Aisha.

"Then... What are you doing now?" Elsword's expression was inquisitive.

"An experiment."

* * *

Unfortunately for Elsword, Aisha's _experiment_ involved using him.

"Concentrate on ice," said Aisha.

"What?!" He looked at her as if she were crazy. "How the heck do I do that?!" Exhaling slowly, Aisha said,

"Think about the element ice only. Nothing else. Concentrate on the temperature, feel, and appearance of it. Got it?" Elsword nodded, and tried thinking about ice. He really did. Only, how could he do it? At first, he imagined hailstones falling at his feet, then a sheet of ice covering the floor, then his hand frozen in a block of ice. None of these seemed right, however, and he started to grind his teeth in frustration.

"Okay, now, give me your hand," Aisha instructed.

"W-why?" he asked, alarmed.

"Just do it." Reluctantly, Elsword offered his left hand to Aisha. She took it gingerly and placed her palm on top of his.

"A-Aisha? What are you-" Suddenly, Elsword felt a cold sensation on his hand. When the mage removed her hand, a thin sheet of ice coated Elsword's palm.

"Keep thinking about the element ice," was all she said. Only ten seconds later, the ice on Elsword's hand shattered into a thousand pieces and melted away. He swore under his breath. "I guess that wasn't it," Aisha observed dryly.

"What?" He was puzzled.

"The element you can use," she said. "Now think of wind, and wind only." Moments later, she took his hand again and traced a circle on his palm with her index finger. She swirled her finger around and around on his palm, then, a cyclone just burst to life. It was tiny, dancing happily on his hand until Aisha removed her finger. As soon as she did that, it dissipated, leaving as quickly as it appeared. Furrowing her eyebrows, Aisha asked, "Were you thinking about wind?"

"Y-yeah. I was." The disappointment the magician felt was obvious; Elsword could see it clearly in her eyes.

"Well," she sighed. "There are only two elements left. And if you can't control either of them..." Her voice dwindled away.

"What?" Elsword's eyes widened with anxiety. "If I can't control them, then what?"

"You won't be able to use magic," she said softy. The boy narrowed his eyes with suspicion.

"Aren't there other forms of magic?"

"Y-yes..." Aisha answered hesitantly. "But most of them branch off of the elements and some... require you to make contracts with demons. Demonic magic, or dark magic, isn't worth it." This she said firmly.

"Alright, so what's left, then?" Elsword silently prayed he would be able to control an element. He used to think that as long as he had a sword, nothing could get in his way. After fighting the nasod, however, he kind of discovered that a sharp piece of metal wouldn't be able to eradicate every enemy he faced. Therefore, he needed to be able to use magic.

"Lightning and fire are the last two," said Aisha. She held her index finger and thumb an inch apart, and Elsword could have sworn he caught a white light flickering between them. "Now, concentrate on electricity," Aisha directed. "Lightning, thunderstorms, whatever." What transpired after that did not make Elsword's day. Closing his eyes, he focused his mind solely on lightning, not allowing it to drift away to other thoughts. Eventually, a tingling sensation invaded his hand. Elsword snapped his eyes open. In front of him, Aisha held his hand, suspending her finger over it. Electricity arced between her finger and his palm. From a vague, tingling feeling, the power of the electricity grew more intense as the girl raised the voltage. It became annoying, then turned into searing pain, unbearable for Elsword.

"Stop it!" he cried out. "Stop!" Immediately, Aisha pulled her finger away, stopping the electric current. Smoke curled up from Elsword's palm, and his hand bore serious burn marks. The marks ran up and down in jagged streaks, like lightning bolts themselves.

"I-" The girl stared at him with a horrified expression. She sank to the floor, shocked. "I'm sorry," her voice broke. Elsword examined his hand - which was throbbing painfully - and he flexed it, wincing when the action sent a jolt up his arm.

"Ugh... I think I'll manage," he finally said with a grimace. He looked at Aisha, whose head was sullenly bent toward the ground. she continued to mutter, _I'm sorry_, to no one in particular, until Elsword said,

"Hey, I'm fine. Maybe a little fried, but," He shrugged, "Could've been worse." Aisha looked up, tears welling up in her eyes. _Why this sudden change?_ he wondered.

"Y-you don't get it," she stated bitterly. "I could have _killed_ you, without meaning to." Elsword blinked.

"But... You didn't, so everything's fine, right? I mean," He chuckled nervously, "it's not like you killed anyone in the past, trying to teach them magic." Aisha's eyes held no humor in them. They were dark, glum, and the girl was unlike the usually upbeat and slightly - fine, very - annoying one Elsword had come to know in the past few days. "Wait, you didn't... Right?"

"I... But, I did," she whispered, averting her eyes back to the floor.

"Wait, what?" He wasn't sure if he had heard her right. "You're joking, right?" No answer came. "Oh..." After remaining silent for a minute, he asked, "Who was it?" She didn't respond. Shifting uncomfortably, Elsword said, "If you don't want to say anything, that's fine with m-"

"It was my cousin," Aisha murmured. "I wanted to teach him how to use magic, because... I thought it would have been cool if we could both use it." She paused, waiting to see if Elsword would interrupt her, but he didn't. "You see, in the south, where I come from, almost everyone learns to become a magician..." Slowly, she launched into a narration, telling the boy of how life worked in her society. Mesmerized by her story, he hung onto every detail she brought up: how everyone began to learn magic at the age of ten, how they graduated school as fully fledged magicians, and how a select few traveled all around Elrios to polish up their skills. "I'm not one of them," admitted Aisha. "Actually, when I was ten, I picked up magic immediately. I surpassed everyone in my grade, and by the time I was fourteen, I skipped enough grades to be in the seniors' class... A lot of people admired this fact, and thought it was cool, except for the headmaster..." Her face soured when she said _headmaster_.

"What?" asked Elsword. "Why not?" He was so caught up in the magician's past, since it was so different from the life he lived in Ruben Village, he had started to forget his injured hand.

"The headmaster is... old," said Aisha. "He's been studying magic for a long time, and a lot of people were saying that my powers matched his... Of course he didn't like that." She narrowed her eyes as she recalled all of this, seeming to see it in her own memory. "One day, my eight-year-old cousin begged me to teach him magic. I-I agreed almost instantly. I wanted him to get an early start on it, so he could excel in his classes, like I did in mine. But, on the same day I decided I would start teaching my little cousin, I found a note in my mail, and a ring. They had both been sent from my headmaster. At that time, I knew the headmaster didn't exactly like me, but I was unaware of his absolute hatred for my talents. I slipped the ring on, since the note said it would help me control my magic, but in reality, it made it go out of control."

"And then? What happened after that?" Elsword pressed on.

"The worst day of my life," Aisha sighed resentfully. "I was teaching my cousin the same way I was teaching you, and I started with the element fire, first... When I tried putting fire in his hands, though, the flames grew bigger, with help from the ring. They expanded to a point that they completely surrounded my cousin. It was... Horrible. He was engulfed in the flames, and I couldn't do anything about it. Just stand and watch as he burned into ashes within minutes. Afterwards, the flames died down and the ring disappeared, along with almost all my powers." Elsword gaped at her with his jaw hanging open, trying to imagine Aisha stronger than she already was. He couldn't see it. "So, to tell the truth, I _have_ been traveling around to improve my skills, like I told you a while ago. Technically, it was to regain them rather than to improve them... But I couldn't stay in the south either, not after... murdering my own cousin." She took in a shaky breath, and let it out slowly. An uncomfortable silence settled between them, and now, Elsword wasn't sure if he would still see the same, stuck-up and annoying girl he saw when he looked at Aisha. Her story was... sad, and miserable, but when he had met her, he had had no clue. _Murderer of her cousin and a runaway..._ Letting out a low whistle, he said,

"You know, your life seems more exciting than mine. All I did was farm and practice sword fighting." Aisha turned to him and scowled.

"Don't you _get_ it?! I _killed_ someone. I'm practically a _fugitive_ from my own home, for Lady El's sake! How could you call that _exciting_?!"

"It wasn't your fault," Elsword noted.

"Did you hear a _word_ of what I said? I set my cousin on fire!"

"That wasn't your fault, though. It was the ring your headmaster gave you. You probably wounded that asshole's pride, and he wanted you to suffer. But that's just stupid, in my opinion." Aisha's scowl softened, and she mumbled,

"Th-thanks, I guess..." That caught Elsword off guard.

"For what?" He was puzzled, and his face did not hide that fact.

"For... Not thinking of me as a monster or something... I think," said the mage. "And, s-sorry, again."

"Huh?"

"Your hand." She pointed at Elsword's hand, which still bore its noticeable marks from the lightning.

"Oh." He lifted it and scanned it for a moment. "I almost forgot about it, actually, listening to your story." He gave a wry smile and asked, "So when do we test out fire?"

"We don't," the girl responded instantly.

"What?"

"You heard me. Fire's what killed my cousin. That same accident will _not_ happen to you."

"But-"

"I'm not teaching you magic. I don't care if Rena gets mad when she gets back." Aisha rose from the ground, and tossed the thin magic book into her pack. "It's better to face Rena when she's angry rather than losing your life entirely." Elsword glared at her back, saying,

"Whoa, wait. Rena's not the only reason I have to learn from you. How would you feel if you were the only one who could use magic when we fight Wally's nasod again? What if you suddenly got knocked out? How the heck would you expect Rena and me to fight that thing? You saw how useless our attacks were on it. What if all three of us died because Rena and I couldn't do anything against the nasod? It would be _your_ fault, because you wouldn't teach me how to fight with magic." He pouted, taken by surprise when she said,

"I'll teach you if you can summon fire by yourself." Elsword stood there, not quite understanding her.

"What?"

"Make a flame appear in your hand," she restated.

"But I can't-"

"I promise," the girl said solemnly, "if you can accomplish this, I'll _try_ to teach you magic again. I-I don't want to try to put fire in your hands myself. If the same thing happened to you..." Elsword nodded.

"I get it. That's fine with me, then. But one question: how do I summon fire?" Sighing, Aisha asked,

"What have I been telling you to do with the other three elements?"

* * *

Elsword wasn't a complete blockhead. This Aisha decided after she had confessed the one huge crime she committed, to no one's knowledge. Now the boy knew... But, he didn't treat her any differently than before, nor did he try to keep his distance from her, like most people would to a murderer. Why _did_ she tell Elsword, though? She had kept her story a complete secret until now. No one needed to know Aisha's dark past. Yet, when the boy asked her who she had taught before him, she couldn't help but answer. Maybe she felt that she owed him something, for harming him with her oh-so-helpful magic. Or perhaps she wanted to scare Elsword to discourage him from trying to learn from her. Aisha shook her head. Deep inside, she knew she really just needed someone to tell. Secrets weren't her thing, but when it came to the incident with her cousin, she couldn't really go around the world yelling, _Hey! Everyone! I'm a killer! I can set people on fire!_ Aisha sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the wall as she sat on the floor of Echo's room. On the opposite end of the room, Elsword also sat, staring at his palm intently, his eyebrows furrowed and an imminent death threat in his eyes, as if he were thinking, _My hand better go on fire, before I punch someone._ How many hours had he been staring at his hand? How many seconds ticked by while he thought solely about that one element? Aisha opened an eye and watched the boy. Frustration was showing in his face, but he didn't saying anything, just continued glowering at his palm.

Days passed, and yes, they were spent by Elsword and Aisha in the most exhilarating way possible. The boy continued looking at his hand and imagining flames, while the magician watched. Occasionally, she fished her elemental magic book out from her pack and scrutinized the text, memorizing a few new incantations each day. One time, Elsword "borrowed" a candle from Echo, lighting it up, and watching the flame flicker until the candle melted away. Another time, he walked up unexpectedly to Aisha and squeezed her hand tightly, in hopes of extracting fireballs or something from her palm. The result, however, was a very annoyed, somewhat insulted, quite red-faced Aisha and a slap to the side of Elsword's head. "You weren't thinking that my magic would just _rub off on you_, did you?" the magician had asked when Elsword tried.

On the fifth day of Elsword's continuous attempts to summon fire, he actually did it. A flame appeared, small but bright, leaving as soon as it came. Startled, the boy asked,

"Aisha, did you see that?!" The girl was examining him, with a barely hidden look of disbelief on her face.

"Y-yeah... I did." Smirking triumphantly at this small feat, Elsword said,

"You have to teach me now."

"Oh, yeah..." Aisha had nearly forgotten her promise over the days Elsword spent trying to summon fire. "Guess I have to..." _Crap! Why did I say that I would teach him?!_

"So, what do I do now?" Elsword inquired.

"First, I want to know," Aisha said, "What, exactly, were you thinking about when that flame appeared?"

"Huh?"

"What was," she rephrased, "the thing your mind was fixed on the moment the fire came?"

"I was thinking about fire, obviously," said Elsword.

"What kind?" Aisha pushed the question further.

"What do you mean, 'what kind'?" The boy was now scowling. "I was just thinking of fire, and how cool it would be if I could use magic like-" He stopped, and coughed, hoping to cover up what he almost said. Unfortunately, Aisha saw right through it.

"Like?" She queried.

"Nothing," said Elsword.

"This is important!" Aisha snapped. "If I can't find out what thoughts are connected to your magic, then I won't be able to do anything to help you."

"Really?" The boy contemplated this. "There are certain _thoughts_ that can control magic?" The mage nodded. "Then... Let me try again. I want to make sure..." He stood up and stared at his hand. In moments, it was lit, a burning fire dancing on his palms. It stayed for five seconds before dying out. "Wow... You were right," Elsword said, a hint of excitement in his voice.

"What were you thinking about?" Aisha pried.

"Do you have to know?"

"Yeah, I sort of need to if you want help making that fire strong enough to use in a fight." Sighing, Elsword said,

"I was thinking about my sister."

"Huh? Your sister?" asked Aisha. "And your hand burst into flames?"

"Yeah," he clarified, like this made sense. "I was remembering the last time she sparred with me, which happened about a year ago. She reminded me of fire." Humming thoughtfully, the girl questioned,

"Why?" When Elsword looked up, however, she didn't need him to say anything. The answer was clear in his crimson eyes, which blazed almost like violent flames. _If his sister has those same eyes,_ Aisha thought, _then no wonder she reminds him on fire._ "Never mind, you don't have to tell me," she said, when Elsword was about to answer. "Just keep thinking about your sister, but this time..." The magician walked across the room and signaled for him to raise his hand. Hesitating for a second, she raised her palm and summoned one of her large fire-balls and placed it in Elsword's hand. Immediately, the fire shrank to half its size. "Try to make it bigger," said Aisha. She stepped backwards. "Keep thinking about what you need to think about and your flame should grow. But _don't_ get distracted." Elsword stared at the thing, fixating his thoughts on Elsa. He remembered the last time they had fought. Her speed. Her grace. Her strength. The perpetual fire that blazed in her eyes. The fireball grew, eventually reaching its original size.

"I did it!" Elsword exclaimed, grinning at the fireball in his hand. "This magic stuff is easier than I th-" It collapsed and burst into uncontrollable flames, spreading across his hand and creeping up his arm. It burned its way up his forearm, singing all the hairs and scorching his skin. Eyes wide with panic, Aisha rushed forward and clutched Elsword's arm, extinguishing the flames, somehow. Breathing heavily, she released her grip and sank to the floor. Numerous blisters were on Elsword's forearm, which was a bright red. He tried to ignore the stinging pain that coursed throughout his arm, instead saying, "That went well." The girl whipped her head up and glared at him furiously.

"You idiot!"

"Wha-"

"You let yourself get distracted!" she yelled. "I _told_ you not to, but _someone_ had to get carried away."

"How could I _not_ get distracted?!" demanded Elsword. "It was my first time trying to do something like that! Maybe I got a little excited. So, what?"

"If I didn't _stop_ the flames," Aisha spat out vehemently, "they would have burned you alive."

"Well, that's why you're here, right?"

"I'm here to _teach_ you, not to grab your arm and extinguish it whenever it goes on fire."

"Can't you do both?"

"No." The magician shook her head, then added, "We're not doing that again."

"But-"

"No." Elsword pouted, and his hand burst into flames again. Aisha reached forward to put it out, but the boy already clenched his hand, extinguishing the fire. Glaring at him Aisha growled, "Don't. Do. That. Again."

"Psh, it's not like you can stop me," Elsword scoffed.

"You-"

"Here's the deal," he interrupted. "If you _teach_ me how to use magic properly for fighting, I won't use fire recklessly. I swear." He paused to let his words sink into Aisha's head. "It doesn't even have to be now. As long as I know how to fight with magic _before_ we face an enemy like the nasod." Regarding the boy and thinking over his offer, Aisha finally decided,

"Fine. I'll teach you later. For now, _stop playing with fire_!" _Hiss!_ The flame in Elsword's palm disappeared as he clenched his hand again. Apparently, it caught on fire when part of his mind inadvertently wandered away to thoughts about Elsa. "God, I can't believe you're still lighting up your hand," muttered Aisha.

"I can't help it," he protested. "Whenever I think about my sister..." He felt heat building in his palm, but it was closed. "How come my hand didn't burst into flames when I thought about her before?" Aisha gritted her teeth.

"It's because you never thought about her while you were trying to use magic. But now... I guess it sort of clicked into your mind. This is bad, though. If you can't control your thoughts-" The door to the room opened, and the alchemist, Echo, stepped in, holding a pink lollipop.

"Excuse me," she said, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but... If it's a matter of controlling your energy, I think you can ask Luichel to help." The two blinked. Elsword stared at the white-haired girl blankly.

"Luichel?"

* * *

Erendil. Was that what the blade was called? Rena was pretty sure that was its name. No one accompanied her as she traveled back toward Elder Village. She was alone, but that was normal for someone part of the Night Watchers' organization. Sighing, she looked up and saw the edge of the Shadow Forest coming into view. She would need to skirt around the edges to make her way toward Elder, but that would take her another two, maybe three days. However... if she went straight through the woods, she could make it to the village within a day. _If_ she survived. Maybe the elf could make it through the forest, with the power her trip to Eldrasil has given her. Making up her mind, Rena drew her new dagger from her belt and checked her quiver to make sure it still contained a few twigs. A confident smile spread across the elf's face as she stepped into the Shadow Forest.

* * *

Elsword ran his finger along the smooth surface of the ruby necklace. Thinking about his sister's disappearance, as a test, he was relieved when his hand didn't burst into flames. _That accessory shopkeeper sure is impressive... I never thought her jewelry was enchanted._.. This time, he thought about Elsa, but willed fire to appear. It came, flickering with the same intensity as it did before. He willed the fire to disappear, and it did, just as soon as he wanted it to. Grinning with pleasure, he looked up and said to Aisha,

"It works."

"Whew, that's good," the purple-haired girl breathed in relief. "Thanks, Luichel."

"No problem~" The woman's eyes flashed brightly over the counter and her lips curved upward into a small smile.

"Um, how much do we pay you?" Elsword questioned.

"You don't need to pay me anything," answered Luichel. "That necklace is... one of my failed projects. I was trying to get it to increase the strength of magic attacks, but it only restricts spells and commands to specific thoughts and words." She shook her head disapprovingly. "Though, I suppose it helps in your case."

"Ah, I see," Aisha replied gratuitously. "Well, thanks again." She turned to leave with Elsword when a cold blast of air filtered into Luichel's shop. Someone opened the door and stepped in...

"Rena?!" Elsword gasped incredulously. The elf lady in front of him did resemble their comrade from a week ago, but...

"Wh-what happened to you?" Aisha looked Rena over disbelievingly. Her hair was ruffled, as if she had just come out of a twister, and intertwined with it was a dark brown cord. At her waist, she wore a belt that held a sharp dagger. She still carried her bow and quiver of arrows, but along with the arrows, multiple shining twigs were nestled into the quiver. Rena's expression was resolute at first, but not unkind. Her clothes were dirty from recent travel and they were... different. The elf smiled cheerfully and asked,

"Did you guys behave yourselves while I was gone?"

* * *

**SL: And that's it.**

**Rena: So... Long... =_=**

**Elsword: What the heck did I just read?**

**Aisha: YOU'RE A BULLY SL! DX**

**SL: Huh? o.o How so?**

**Aisha: HMM... GEE, I WONDER. FIRST, YOU PUT ME ON THE... WITH HIM! *points at Elsword***

**Elsword: Hi o-o**

**Aisha: AND THEN, YOU MAKE ME A MURDERER?! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO WRONG YOU? D':**

**SL: Hmm... I thought it would be funny... The first two paragraphs... Guess not.**

**Rena: I thought it was~ I wish I was there D: *brings out camera***

**SL: SEE? SOMEONE SUPPORTS ME :D And uh... Hmm... Murderer... Well I can't help you on that part. I didn't want you to be a "perfect" person or anything, so you needed to have a dark past o3o**

**Aisha: But-**

**SL: Take your complaints to RubyCrusade. Then compare what she would do with you with what I did with you. I think there's a difference...**

**Aisha: Crap... Nevermind. What you're doing is fine. OAO *cowers in the corner***

**RubyCrusade: Did someone call for me? o.o**

**SL: I thought you couldn't go on fanfiction.**

**RubyCrusade: Oh yeah... I can't. *poof***

**Rena: So I'm a trapping ranger now?**

**SL: Yep.**

**Rena: And Aisha's a high mage?**

**SL: Uh huh.**

**Rena: Elsword is... A magic knight?**

**SL: Sort of... Aisha will need to teach him more...**

**Aisha: I'm not doing that.**

**SL: You are. ANYWAY, LET'S MOVE ON TO THE REVIEWS.**

**to Orithia WindBell: Thank you :D Hmm... Are you this "Hospes" I've been hearing about? Also, yes. They have job changed~ And yes... Elsword ish a brat XD**

**to NekoYinChan: Lol, well here's chapter 10 XD Yes... school can be rather annoying... But hey, only two weeks until it's over :D Yeah, PvP isn't too hard in NA, but it annoys me when I have a B rank's hp down to 1/8, and then that person uses some op special active and wipes out all my hp T_T (Because I always forget to put up mana shield when the person does that *facepalm*) But KR, yeah... They're pretty damn good. (Go South Korea! :D) And CN with Oberon and Ophelia... Eh. I'm trying to stick to the actual storyline/game plot as much as I can. That wouldn't be a bad idea in another story though. And yesh! Go CN! (Though for story purposes, both could be good) Well, RS is nice. He has fireballs. So ha :)**

**to YuYuYu A: I must put Raven in the story soon... And King Nasod? He didn't really... Scare me... Because I wasn't as noob when I faced him as I was when I faced Raven... I was still getting used to the game when I started Altera. But I see what you mean. King Nasod, Cutty Sark, and Berthe are all pretty annoying bosses XD And for Raven's job... Man... VC? I don't know... Whenever Raven and Rena are paired together, I think "Blade Master" for Raven immediately. But... I'll think about it. And I'll have to ask my guild mates for their opinions... **

**to Rosamanelle: Yes, argh cliffhangers! XD And a hiatus, huh. Oh wells~ Writing a cliffhanger is fun and makes everything easier for me, but reading one isn't that pleasant. After Rena fainted? Well, I somewhat explained it in this chapter, but if you still don't get it, it was some people from the Night Watcher's group. They saved Rena, Aisha, and Elsword and w/e. No, it's not Chung (unfortunately) but that would have been nice :D And thank you! Good luck to you too, if you have something... *awkward silence***

**to SquishyPenny: Yes, they would. =_= AND WHO STUDIES?! Oh wait... finals. I see. Well, I didn't bother studying for midterms, but finals are different... So yeah. Liliqe should have some, so she knows the pain... And I want to get a good grade on them and get straight A's this year T_T Psh. Imagine Gramps failed that year twice, and I failed once... So Liliqe, Gramps, and I all end up in the same grade XD That would be... cool but sad for Gramps o-o But hey, he could tutor Liliqe! Then for Aeres... Who knows. Aeres is Aeres. He'll be fine :P**

**SL: Let's see... That seems to be all for now.**

**Eve: I wish you good luck on your final exams.**

**SL: Oh, hey Eve! And thanks :D**

**Eve: You are welcome.**

**Aisha: Wait... So you're not updating at all until the end of school?**

**SL: That's the idea o.o**

**Aisha: Merp. Oh wells, seeya later then.**

**SL: Bai XD *packs bag, flute, study materials, teacher, writing notebook* **

**And good luck to everyone who has finals, exams, or plain torture for the end of the school year~**


	11. Chapter 11

**SL: Surprise! Bet you didn't expect this :)**

**Aisha: Wait. Why are you back from hiatus so early? o-o**

**SL: Because... 1: I got grounded so I don't know when the next time I could go on the computer will be (discreetly types this) and 2: The last final exam was today, but when I was taking the exams, I got a good amount of writing done in a notebook since everyone else took too long to finish, so... that's how that went.**

**Elsword: I bet she's just happy that a few writers like her friend or RC started updating again...**

**SL: WHOA WHOA WHOA, MISTER. How'd you know? O_O**

**Elsword: *shrugs and walks away***

**SL: NO. COME BACK HERE. WE HAVE SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT. ELSWORDDDDDDDD**

***Elsword has ditched the room***

**SL: *Sigh* Oh well~ Anyway, for anyone who wants to know, this chapter will introduce-**

**Aisha: Me.**

**SL: No.**

**Aisha: Then who?**

**SL: Wait to find out~ Roll camera. or film. Or... you know what? Just forget it...**

* * *

**Chapter 11: On the Road Again**

"So... About the stuff you said you would explain..." Elsword hesitated, not sure what to make of this new Rena, with her dagger that could slice him into pieces. Grinning, Rena wondered,

"Where should I begin..." The three were on the road again, trekking across the red clay soil that dominated the lands past Lord Wally's castle. On Rena's insistence, they left Elder Village almost as soon as she returned. No questions, no arguments, just the mutual knowledge that the longer they stayed in the same place, the farther away Wally would get with the El. So the group had left, after expressing their gratitude and saying their farewells to Luichel and Echo. "Hmm..." Rena sorted out her thoughts before asking, "Would you like to know about nasods, or why I left, first?" Aisha inquired,

"Where were you-"

"What are nasods?" Elsword interrupted. Scowling at him, the magician grumbled,

"I think it'd be more important to know what Rena was doing, without telling us too."

"I'd rather know what the thing that almost killed us was," the boy retorted dryly.

"You know," Rena chuckled awkwardly, "I can tell you both-"

"If you don't know what _nasods_ are, or were, that's your fault," muttered Aisha. "Besides, Rena ran off for a whole week, doing who-knows-what, and came back... like this!" She gestured toward the elf, still unable to get over her changed appearance.

"But she told me she would explain what nasods were when we were at Wally's castle!" whined Elsword.

"She _also_ wrote in her note that she would say what happened when she was gone," the mage pointed out. "And-"

"Oh my," Rena's voice cut through the two's argument. "Did you behave like this while I was gone, too?" She shook her head in disapproval. "And I thought both of you wouldn't if I reminded you in the note." They stiffened, walking next to the elf lady in silence. "Or perhaps I'm just making ridiculous assumptions~" she said with a frightening smile painted on her face.

"Y-yeah! That must be it!" Elsword laughed nervously. "'Cause me and Aisha would never fight with each other, right Aisha?" He jabbed her in the side with his elbow.

"Ow- I mean, yeah! We wouldn't do such a thing..." The girl eyed Rena with caution.

"Alright then~ Now that that's cleared up... I supposed I should tell you where I've been this past week," Rena laughed sheepishly. The boy and girl turned their heads toward her expectantly. "Well, you see... You remember how our battle with Wally's nasod went, I hope." They nodded. "And to be honest, I thought all three of us should learn magic to some aspect, because my arrows and Elsword's sword... They didn't do a thing against the nasod. If we met more enemies like that in the future-"

"That's what Elsword told me," Aisha blurted out suddenly. "So I had to teach him how to use fire..." She winced recalling the unpleasant experience.

"Oh, so you listened? That's good!" Rena clapped her hands together happily. "Then all of us are ready for the next time we meet Wally."

"W-what do you mean by _all_ of us?" Aisha stared at her companion.

"Well, when I left you two," Rena said _left you two_ like she would say _set off two time bombs_, "I was trying to learn how to use a better form of magic." Aisha pondered this.

"So, the dagger you have and the twigs in your quiver-"

"Yeah. They're my new weapons," Rena admitted. "The twigs, well, they're infused with magic."

"Question," Elsword spoke up. "Echo said a group of people saved us from Wally's nasod, and that you followed them out of Elder."

"Yeah..." The elf wasn't sure where this was going.

"Who are they, exactly?" Elsword questioned, curiosity lingering in his voice. Rena thought over how to answer, then replied,

"I can't tell you, specifically, who they are. But I _can_ say that they're my own kind, and they're assassins..." _Assassins?_ Aisha inspected her companion more closely. _Does that mean... Rena's an assassin, too?_ Suddenly, the ground cracked at her feet. She yelped, jumping backwards and summoning her staff within a split second. "Aisha?" Rena gave the mage a concerned look. "What-" She was cut off. The ground under her gave way and she leapt back instinctively. Out came two scorpions, but...

"They're _huge_!" Elsword's eyes widened and he took tentative steps backwards.

"Way to state the obvious..." Aisha muttered under her breath, also keeping her distance from the things. "So, uh, what's the plan?"

"Rena?" Elsword looked at the spot she had been at. She wasn't there.

"Captanda sagitta," her voice intoned from behind him. He whirled around in time to catch Rena shooting at the scorpions with... a twig? She fired with impeccable aim, just as Elsword shouted,

"Are you cra-" **Boom!** The ground near his feet exploded, and he was thrown backwards, hitting the red clay with a soft thud.

"Ow! Get off me, idiot!" He looked down. Never mind. He had fallen on top of Aisha, instead. He rolled off of her, slightly red-faced, mumbling,

"Oops..."

"_So_ not cool," she grumbled. A vehement hiss came from behind them. They turned to see both of the human-sized scorpions sprawled on their backs. The scorpions' legs waved helplessly in the air, until they turned over on their sides. Giving a final, furious hiss, the scorpions snapped their pincers and burrowed back into the red earth. A few minutes passed, void of any other sound. When it seemed that the two scorpions would not come back, Rena looked at her companions and smiled.

"Looks like they're taken care of~" She dusted off her clothes and placed the extra twig she had been holding back into her quiver.

"W-what," Elsword stammered.

"Wind," Aisha decided. "That's the element you use, right?"

"Bingo~" the elf giggled. "By the way, Aisha, I've been meaning to ask ever since I learned about the properties of magic. What element do you use, specifically?" The purple-haired girl considered this question for a moment before answering,

"I don't know. I used to be able to use all of them-" Rena gasped, astonished, "-but now, I can only use two for combat: fire and lightning. As for wind and ice... I'm still relearning how to handle them effectively. So wind is my weakest element, while fire is the easiest for me to use." Rena nodded.

"Why can't you use them all as well as you used to?"

"That's," Aisha paused, "a long story... And I'd rather not talk about it."

"But you told me," Elsword had to mention. Aisha gave him a sharp glare.

"Oh?" Rena examined them with new interest. "Have you two been bonding while I was gone?" They whipped their heads toward her with expressions of disbelief.

"No!" they shouted in unison, which only added to their mortification and Rena's mischievous smile.

"Well, it seems you both have been doing certain things behind my back." A hint of amusement tinged Rena's voice. "I wouldn't be surprised," she added, "if you two had planned to elope sometime soon~" Their expressions were priceless. Elsword's face flushed a light pink, which was basically how Aisha looked at that moment as well, only her eye was twitching.

"Never! Not in this lifetime!" she exclaimed.

"W-with that snob?" sputtered Elsword. "Why-"

"I was only joking!" Rena stifled a laugh with her hand. "Though, your reactions _were_ interesting to watch.

"O-oh..." Aisha looked away. _Ah. I probably shouldn't tease them like this,_ Rena thought, _but it's so funny, how they react... Still,_ another idea popped into her head, _when those two get older, they could look back to this and laugh, themselves... One day..._

"Rena," Elsword's voice got her attention.

"Hmm?"

"Shouldn't we be setting up camp soon?" he suggested. When the elf moved her eyes toward the sun, she realized the boy was right. The setting sun tinted the sky blood-red and deep-violet. Pretty soon, the vast, red desert would be covered in dark shadows. The three meandered about in search of a suitable place to set up camp for the night.

Just as the sun was disappearing from sight, the group found a rocky outcropping at which they set up camp.

"I'll take first watch," Rena offered as they placed their sleeping bags and supplies on the ground.

"Watch?" Elsword inquired, clueless. Aisha also looked inquisitively at the elf.

"Don't you take watches during the night to look out for danger?" asked Rena. The two shook their heads.

"This is practically the first time I've been out of Ruben," Elsword said in his defense.

"And I usually sleep in town inns when I travel," Aisha supplied. Rena's face fell into her hands and she said,

"You have a lot to learn about traveling out of the reach of civilization..." She sighed. "Anyhow, I'll take first watch. Then I'll wake up Aisha and she'll wake you up, Elsword. Is that clear?" They nodded. "Good. And if you see anything strange during your shift, you wake everyone up. Now, both of you, get some sleep." They didn't protest. Aisha and Elsword, both fatigued and worn out from the long day, slipped into their own sleeping bags and shut their eyes, while their comrade sat high on the outcropping, scanning the area for any possible threat.

* * *

Night. Quiet, still night. A curtain of blackness engulfed all of Velder, the capital city of Rurensia. The darkness was fitting, for the city had lost a quarter of its people within a mere hour.

Several hours ago a watchman, part of Velder's garrison, stood at his post on duty. He stifled a yawn and stared unenthusiastically at the landscape around him. No threat showed on the land, or in the sky. None ever did. Still, he had to keep on the lookout for any person, creature, or thing that could possibly endanger the safety of Velder's citizens. Only twenty minutes later, it came. A small speck in the sky at first, it grew larger, flying toward the city. There was no doubt; it was an aircraft headed straight for Velder. The otiose watchman, however, had dozed off already, slumped on the ground and lulling back and forth. It wasn't until the aircraft was directly above Velder that the man woke up. The rumbling of the engine jerked him out of his sleep and his eyes widened to the size of cantaloupes when he saw the thing.

"Shit!" he cursed. "The Black Crow is here!" the watchman hollered, before remembering he was the only person on duty today. The airship of the infamous group, Black Crow, sank lower and lower toward the ground, and several rope ladders fell over the side of the ship. The man turned to run, to alert someone, _anyone_. But facing him was... the captain of the Black Crow.

"Going somewhere?" the jet-black-haired captain inquired with a cold voice. The watchman froze in fear. There was nothing he could do now, even if he had been armed. "Tch..." The Black Crow's captain took his time to look out over the city. "Pathetic. No defenses, not even a decent watchman." He stepped forward, slowly. "Nevertheless, it'll still be pleasing to destroy this place." The last thing the watchman saw before he died was a wicked-looking metal arm.

"Man, that was boring," said Clovis, the Black Crow's second-in-command. "I thought Velder would have stronger defenses." The captain stayed silent, staring over the ship's railing at the city in the distance. The city he had wrecked. _But it deserved to be,_ part of his mind argued. It stole the lives of his friends, his fiancé, everyone he had cared about. And today, he got to pay back Velder, for all the sufferings it had caused him...

"Captain," one of his soldiers interrupted his thoughts. He turned around, annoyed.

"What do you want?" Clovis barked.

"Umm..." the soldier turned to the second-in-command and hesitated. "Where are we headed, exactly?"

"The Richie mines, like the captain told you several times already." The permanent scowl the captain wore deepened as he watched Clovis yell at the soldier. "Why can't you understand an order the first time he gives it?"

"Uh, erm, yes, sir! Sorry, sir! It won't happen again!" The soldier shook, bringing his hand up to his forehead in a meek salute and began to hurry off.

"Clovis," the captain finally spoke.

"Yeah?" Clovis looked at him.

"Just make sure the ship goes to Bethma, but the crew has to be ready to depart to Altera, afterward. The meeting with 'Lord' Wally will not take long."

"Got it," said the second-in-command. Then he called, "You!" to the soldier that was leaving.

"Yes, sir?" The soldier turned around to meet Clovis's eyes and see the captain's face, dark with a murderous intent as usual.

"Set the course to the Richie mines, like I told you before, but tell everyone that we're going to Altera later. No stopping. No extra business. Nothing."

"But, sir, my family is in Bethma and I want to-"

One death glare from the captain cut him off.

"Are you _really_ arguing against the _captain_'s orders?" Clovis questioned. The soldier paled, and said hastily,

"No, sir! I'm sorry, sir! I - I'll tell everyone what you said." He then retreated below-deck to give the orders.

"He fears you, Raven," Clovis noted. "They all do, don't they?" He chuckled. "Well, no matter. It makes it all the easier to control them."

"Don't call me _Raven_," the captain hissed. Clovis shrugged.

"Whatever you want, _captain_."

The Black Crow sped up, going at a pace of about twenty knots an hour, with Bethma set as its destination. Behind it, Velder, the capital city, was left in devastation.

* * *

"Wait a minute," Rena stopped in her tracks. It was midday, and the sun was high in the sky, beating down generously on her hot, tired back. As soon as the sun had risen, Rena woke up and roused Aisha and Elsword from their sleep. Elsword was supposed to be on lookout duty, but he sort of... fell back to sleep at his post, high on the outcropping. Rena was glad she had found him before Aisha did.

"Why are we stopping?" Aisha groaned, rubbing her eyes. She still hadn't gotten used to the idea of losing a few hours of rest to be on look out during the night. Though, she had a nagging suspicion that Elsword hadn't done his part.

"We fought... scorpions yesterday, correct?" Rena asked.

"Yeah," clarified Elsword. "Then you shot them with that twig of yours and they ran away."

"But, they couldn't have been there, or been alive, unless..." The elf's eyes widened as she had an epiphany. "That's it!"

"What is?" Aisha questioned. Elsword was also as clueless as she was. Rena smiled and lifted her pointer finger upwards.

"What does every living thing need to survive?"

"Is this a trick question?" Aisha narrowed her eyes.

"No," Rena waited for an answer. Finally, Elsword guessed,

"The El, right?"

"Exactly!" Rena clapped her hands together. "So if those scorpions were able to survive at the spot we were at yesterday, then-"

"We're near a source of El!" Aisha realized.

"Bingo." The elf paused to think. "From what I remember, this area is called Bethma, and there should be one village around here. So if there's a village around here, there has to be El, and vice-versa."

"Wait." Elsword held his hand in front of him to stop Rena. "So basically, you're saying that we're close to a village?" Rena nodded.

"And that village is over there," Aisha pointed to the west. The elf lady and the boy turned to see buildings in the distance that they, apparently, hadn't noticed before.

"Oh, hey... A village..." Elsword murmured lamely.

"Bethma Village," Rena breathed.

* * *

**Raven: So you finally decided to stick me in your story.**

**Aisha: WHY WERE YOU KILLING PEOPLE RAVEN? AND WHY ARE YOU SUCH A JERK?**

**Elsword: AND WHY ARE YOU SUCH A JERKFACE?**

**SL: Oh hey, Elsword's back :D *gets ignored***

**Raven: *shrugs* Oh wait. *picks up SL's notebook from the ground* What's this?**

**SL: DON'T TOUCH THAT O_O *runs toward Raven***

**Raven: *runs away while reading notebook* Hmm... Guys, I think she's writing another story.**

**SL: AM NOT.**

**Aisha and Elsword: *suddenly interested***

**Raven: Let's see here... Oh wow... This intro is just sad. I'm sorry Aisha *shakes head sympathetically***

**Aisha: WAIT. WHAT? WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT? WHAT HAPPENED IN THERE? OAO**

**Raven: Well first of all, this story is about-**

***SL has kicked Raven from the room***

**SL: There. No spoilers.**

**Aisha: WHAT?**

**Elsword: You never told us you were writing a new story o-o**

**SL: PRETEND LIKE I'M NOT, OKAY?**

**Elsword: But-**

**SL: MOVING TO THE REVIEWS.**

**Wait. Special shout out to Penny for editing every chapter of this story XD (Without him editing this... God, life would be so much harder)**

**to Rosamanelle: Psh. Chung is awesome. You have every reason to think it's Chung. YESH. LET'S LIGHT EVERYTHING ON FIRE. (In almost every game I play, I usually go for the element fire, without realizing XD) Man, I wish you guys could have lit my finals on fire. Yes, Elsa is so awesome that she can use magic. Rena is a total bawss as a TR, whoop whoop! Raven, huh? Well, HERE'S YOUR RAVEN. I introduced Raven in this chapter because of you :D But he's so... scary. Anyway, Eve will come in Altera. Chung... after Nasod King definitely. Ara? I'm not sure if she'll be in here. Who knows? Depends how motivated I am to keep updating until Sander and what-not. When will I come back from hiatus? (continues typing discreetly) I must ask my parents when I'm ungrounded... AND DON'T DIE. CALL LIFE ALERT. 911. POLICE. FIREMEN. SOMEBODYYYYYY *drags Rosa put of the emo corner again***

**to NekoYinChan: Lulz... I think fanfiction went all weird and duplicated your review. Anyway, here's your chapter :) Exams are done (last one was today) finally. God... Math was awful. Ah, my school is over in a week, too. Well.. next week I guess. Thank you! I think your good luck actually gave me good luck: it must have made me get almost perfect scores on science and Latin... Oo.. And go magic knight! I wonder what will happen next, too... I don't have a very tight outline for this story, so I'm seeing what happens as it moves along. O_o AND OMG. YOU'RE LIKE 4 LEVELS HIGHER THAN ME XD (needs to actually start catching up) Magic users are awesome. Elsword became awesome when he could use magic, in my opinion at least. :D**

**to Orithia Windbell: I'm pretty sure I heard of you when I was reading Snow's story in its early stages... Hm... Was she the one who gave you the name Hospes? Ahem, yeah... Burning. Hmm... Where in the world did that idea come from... AND YES. I HATE THE HEADMASTER TOO. ALL HEADMASTERS ARE WEIRD. EXCEPT DUMBLEDORE. I MEAN, HE'S WEIRD TOO BUT HE'S GOOD. So, since I hate headmasters (like Aisha's headmaster) I must make them evil! (Look at that logic) Woot. Rena is going to be all... awesome now. Don't know what else to say... Hmm... I needed to tell you something. OH RIGHT. STOP TICKLING FURRY UNICORNS. I SAW YOU DOING IT. DON'T DO IT. THEY DON'T LIKE IT. Yeah... X3**

**SL: To be honest, I am working on a new story-**

**Elsword: Called it.**

**SL: -but... I don't know if I'll publish it. Maybe I will when school ends, but I'm not exactly sure if it'll be good, since I only wrote a canon story for Elsword so far... Oh wells. Anyway, thank you to everyone who's reading this story! I really appreciate it ^_^**

***flees from the room***


	12. Chapter 12

**SL: Finally got ungrounded, so I have a new chapter for everyone :D**

**Aisha: Took you long enough...**

**SL: o-o *decides not to mention the trip***

**Aisha: WAIT WHAT?! WHAT TRIP?**

**SL: Nothing~ Anyway, school's over but I might still be going with the one week updates for the story, since I need to tutor my siblings, apparently. BUT, I'll make up for it with the new story, which I shall be posting some time soon :3**

**Raven: And then Aisha will be all miserable because-**

**SL: Hush, child. No need to spoil anything.**

**Raven: I'm older than you.**

**SL: Shut up. So here's Chapter 12~ :D**

* * *

**Chapter 12: The Whole Time... it was an Illusion?**

"Concentrate, again," Aisha commanded. A blazing fire ran up and down the tips of Elsword's fingers and in his palm. Apparently, Bethma Village was a little farther away than it had looked. To pass the time, Aisha reluctantly decided to pick up on teaching Elsword how to use magic.

"Satisfied?" the boy asked, eyeing the flames warily. They didn't burn his hand like they had last time, and he planned to keep it that way. Instead of feeling a painful sensation of being scorched, he felt a faint warmth in his hand, despite the fact the fire was clearly stronger than the one he summoned last time. Maybe he was actually getting used to this magic stuff.

"Yeah, that's good," Aisha nodded approvingly. "It might even be strong enough to fight with." Elsword stayed silent, but he allowed himself a smug grin, to which Aisha frowned.

"Don't get too confident. That'll just screw up your control." The fire in Elsword's hand, which was trembling slightly, regained its steadiness and resumed burning with strength. "Okay, now, you see those rocks over there?" It took Elsword a few moments to realize Aisha was referring to the boulders about fifty feet away from where they were walking.

"Yeah?

"Try aiming for them."

"Wait, what?" Elsword glanced at Aisha, wondering if he had heard wrong. He hadn't.

"Try hitting those rocks with that fire of yours." They were now forty feet away from the boulders.

"Okay, but here's the problem," Elsword kept his eyes on his fire. "I don't know how." The mage stared at him like he was the most stupid person in Elrios. _Maybe if she actually _taught _properly..._

"Just... Will it forward," she said. "Or... Think about it shooting out of your hand." Elsword tried, but it only ventured a few inches from him before fleeing back to his palm, unbudging. "Um... Form the flames into _something_ first, before you send them away. It'll make things easier, because the more concentrated your element is, the stronger it'll be and the farther it'll go. Like this." Aisha summoned a fire in her hand that formed into a sphere immediately. It fled from her hand and smashed into the boulders, obedient to her thoughts. Hazy, gray smoke obscured their view of the rocks, but when it cleared, sizzling, red-hot rubble was all that remained of the boulders. The three stopped walking.

"Wow..." Elsword gaped at the sight. "Way to go... So, what do I aim for now?" Aisha thought for a moment, and decided,

"For now, just focus on shaping your fire."

"Can we keep going while you're doing that?" Rena spoke up, motioning towards the village in the distance. The group began to move again, with Elsword struggling to force the flames in his hand into a sphere. First, they turned into an oval, before shifting into some elliptical shape. A few times, the flames wouldn't be tamed and they burst, taking on no specific form. Finally, _finally_, after numerous attempts, Elsword managed to make the flames look like a somewhat-perfect sphere.

"What now?" he inquired.

"Aim for those." Aisha pointed to another group of boulders about thirty feet away from where they were walking. Elsword sent the fireball away, but it fizzled out when it was only two feet from the boulders. He tried again, without a word, forming a sphere more quickly this time - now that he had the hang of it - and forcing it at the rocks. It hit. Upon impact, the boulders cracked and turned red with heat, but they weren't demolished like the other ones were when Aisha had demonstrated. Pouting, Elsword released another ball of fire, which shattered the boulders into pieces.

"That was... pretty good, actually." Aisha approved. "Keep doing that with all the other boulders you see, until you can destroy them in one shot." She paused, then suggested, "Don't keep your hand burning, though. You'll collapse if you use magic excessively, especially since it's tied to your life energy. And Rena and I won't be the ones carrying your sorry butt all the way to the village." After she said this, the fire in the boy's hand went out. He was not in favor of collapsing and being left behind in the desert-like place, alone. The three continued to trek toward Bethma Village, and when occasional rocks jutted out on the ground, Elsword practiced shooting fireballs at them. Even after he was able to destroy the rocks with one hit, he continued practicing. Eventually, the boy stopped using magic and said,

"By the way, Rena, you never told me what nasods are." As they steadily made their way closer to Bethma Village, the elf realized

"Oh, right. I never did."

"Well?" Elsword looked inquisitive.

"Okay... Would you like to know what they are," Rena began to ask, "or what they were?" Elsword blinked.

"Is there... a difference?" Sighing, Rena said,

"There's a huge difference, from what I've been told." From the side, Elsword thought he heard Aisha scoff. "I guess it would be best if you knew both, so... 'Nasod' used to be a form of technology invented by humans, thousands of years ago. It was the most advanced technology, actually, but at some point, it became _too_ advanced.

"What do you mean?" interrupted Elsword.

"When the production of nasod technology," Rena picked up again, "or nasod for short, was at its peak, some of the nasods formed... their own wills. They no longer listened to the commands of humans. They did whatever _they_ wanted to do. In fact, soon after this began to happen, the nasods revolted, fleeing away from the factories where they were produced and forming their own monarchy."

"Did the humans do anything to get them back?" Elsword questioned eagerly. "Did they find the nasods? Did they torch them or something?" Rena put out her hands to calm him down.

"I'm getting to that. Anyway, no, the humans didn't go after the nasods." Elsword's face fell in childlike disappointment. "They stopped making more too, because they feared the others would revolt. Instead, they made a treaty with the advanced nasods, promising that both sides would maintain peace."

"Then?"

"Both the nasods and humans prospered. Somehow, some of the nasods developed human features, enough to the point that some people even confused the nasods with humans." Now, Aisha was listening intently, her eyes hiding a million questions. "However," Rena's light tone drifted to a more ominous one, "the humans during this time had possession of the El, and during this time, the El was in one piece, instead of being scattered throughout Elrios as multiple shards. Yet, the human influence on the El was degrading it, wearing away its power. The nasods were programmed with a device that converted energy from the El into life energy. Since the El's power was getting weak, the nasods tried to take control of it from the humans. The fights that erupted from this were all part of _The Hundred Year War_. Both sides went into total war, but in the end, the nasods gave up."

"Huh?" Elsword looked befuddled.

"The nasods knew the war was weakening the power of the El too quickly, so people said they retreated."

"And?"

"I don't know." Rena shrugged. "No evidence of the ancient nasods was found ever since."

"But, what about the nasod we fought?" Elsword protested. Frowning, Rena said,

"I'm not too sure about that one. During my travels, I've heard rumors here and there that someone reopened the nasod foundry."

"Nasod foundry?" the boy asked.

"The place where nasods were produced," Rena offered as an explanation. "I've heard that new nasods were being manufactured, not as advanced as the old one; only designed to obey commands. When I heard this, I thought it was only a superstition, a hoax or something."

"But who's making the nasods?" Elsword queried. The elf sighed.

"That's what I would like to know." The group continued walking without exchanging conversation. Each individual had his or her own thoughts occupying the person. _I wonder if Banthus was able to take Ruben's El by using Wally's nasod,_ Rena brooded over the other means the bandits could have used to retrieve the El. _I'm sure,_ she decided. _There's no other reasonable way he could have stolen it._ Amused, Rena thought, _So that's the 'tool' Wally lent Banthus..._

"Hey, when do you think we're going to get to Bethma?" Aisha inquired. Rena snapped out of her thoughts and squinted at the village, which was only a tiny speck, possibly miles away,

"We've been walking for so long," complained Elsword. "We aren't getting any closer to that village. I swear, it's only getting smaller!" The mage snorted irritably.

"That's ridiculous. We've been walking the whole day. There's no way it's moving farther away." She stopped herself. "Wait... Is it?" She looked at Rena, concerned.

"I... don't know," the elf admitted. "Though, it's strange. It's never taken this long to get to Bethma Village. The desert shouldn't even be this large."

"Then, what-" Aisha halted her eyes widening. "Guys, stop. Stop!" Rena and Elsword halted in their tracks and turned to face her.

"What?" demanded Elsword.

"Rena," Aisha ignored him. "Do you know what kind of creatures live in Bethma, besides scorpions?" Rena though for a moment, then answered,

"I've seen some reptiles around here before, like komodos. But people claim lizards that walk on two legs inhabit Bethma as well. I forgot exactly what they were called..."

"Lizardmen?" the magician guessed, hoping she was wrong.

"Oh, yeah! That was it!" said Rena. "Why did you want to know?" Aisha swore under her breath.

"This means, we aren't where we think we are."

"What?" Elsword asked, confused.

"Stand back, both of you," Aisha warned. "Give me a little space. They stepped away as she summoned her wand. _Thank Lady El I looked at that book Echo gave me, before we left Elder._ Holding up her wand, she commanded, "Eos inveni." Find them. She brought it down, releasing concentrated blue energy that immediately went backwards. "Hurry, we need to follow it," Aisha ordered. The three ran after the blue missile-like energy Aisha conjured, and after three minutes, a group of boulders came into view, the very same ones Elsword destroyed a while ago.

"What," Elsword panted, "How..." The blue missile traveled behind the boulders and Aisha knew it hit something. She could... feel it... somehow. The three were about to travel behind the boulders, when suddenly, the scene shifted. Geysers that did not exist before were on the ground, here and there, some of them blasting out scorching fire. The boulders disappeared, and the three were in an orange cavern, instead of under a light blue sky. In place of the boulders was... a lizard with white hair. Only problem: it was a lizardman. Clutching a peculiar wooden staff - with tribal ornaments on it - and bouncing back and forth on its feet, the lizardman raised its staff and released a blue missile, similar to the one Aisha used.

"Run!" she shouted. Elsword and Rena didn't need to be told twice. They bolted to opposite directions but when Elsword glanced back, Aisha was still there.

"What the heck are you doing?!" he demanded. The girl uttered a few words under her breath and right when she said them, a blue aura enveloped her, just as soon as the lizardman's missile hit. "Aisha! ... What?" The mage was safe, uninjured, and perfectly unharmed, and the blue aura around her faded. She turned around and scowled.

"Well, what are you standing there and waiting for? We need to beat that thing!" She directed her attention back toward the magical lizard guy and yelled, "Ignis ruptis!" Outstretched in front of her was her staff, which practically spat out a dozen fireballs at once, the last one being the largest. A majority of them struck the lizardman and it - or was it he? - screeched in pain. Footsteps scuffled from the only tunnel that led out of the cavern. Before the three knew it, they were surrounded by a dozen other lizardmen, which were not as large as the first, yet were intimidating with the bone weapons they wielded. Aisha gulped, hard.

"Any plan, purple-head?" Elsword asked hopefully. She shook her head slowly. "Rena?" The boy looked for the elf. She was gone. "Where-" He spotted her at the other side of the cavern, nocking a bulky, green arrow without drawing anyone else's attention. Shutting his mouth, he looked away, only daring to look at Rena from the corner of his eye. He met Aisha's gaze, and she shot him a warning. She had noticed too. Both of them moved closer as the dozen lizardmen closed in on them, with their bone-shaft spears and sharp boomerangs. The magician leaned in toward Elsword's ear and whispered,

"Grab my hand, and be ready." Hesitating for only a second, the boy slipped his hand into hers and braced himself for whatever would happen next. She must have had _some_ plan by now. From the corner of his eye, Elsword caught Rena nodding to Aisha and pulling back her bowstring. The magical lizardman in front of the two danced back and forth, goading the other lizardmen closer to Elsword and Aisha. "Okay," Aisha said in a hushed tone. "Three... Two... One. Abfugie!" She brought her staff down, and Elsword tightened his grip on her hand. At the same time, Rena released the arrow she had nocked. Instantly, Aisha and Elsword were teleported next to Rena, and the bulky green arrow pierced through some of the lizardmen. It missed several, but that didn't matter. Along the path the arrow had flown, a few glowing twigs were embedded in the ground, right beside the remaining lizardmen. Of course, the lizardmen panicked. A few of the dumb ones ventured cautiously toward the twigs, which were now blinking furiously. One of the lizardmen poked a twig with its spear, as a test, and the others gathered to watch. Bad idea. The twig exploded, and half of the lizardmen collapsed. The others hurried to flee but in the bedlam that resulted from this, they stepped on the rest of the twigs, causing them to activate as well. Twelve lizardmen lay on the ground, dead or passed out. Elsword let out a low whistle, impressed. However, one was still stand: the magic-user. It screeched, making a sound close to two broken pieces of metal grating against each other. Aisha narrowed her eyes at it. The only way the three could get to the village, she knew, was by defeating the thing. Something it was doing was dragging them away from their destination.

"Rena, Elsword," she said, "We need to beat that lizardman. It's the reason we're not getting to Bethma." Elsword nodded.

"Got it," Rena answered.

"Ready?" Aisha asked. She spotted Rena staring at her and Elsword strangely. "What?" Rena shook her head, but her mouth curved into a mischievous smile.

"Nothing~" The elf dashed away, toward the lizardman. Aisha looked down and realized she was still holding Elsword's hand tightly.

"Oh." Hastily, she pulled her hand away and ran toward the lizardman, leaving Elsword catching up behind her. "Rena..." she muttered to herself.

"Captanda sagitta," the elf murmured from behind the lizardman. It turned around, and at the same time Aisha hit the dirt.

**Boom!** A twig Rena had shot at the lizardman exploded, leaving it staggering backwards. Elsword darted ahead of Aisha and jumped in the air. By the time the magical lizardman recovered and faced the boy, he was hurling a ball of fire at it. The creature received a faceful of fire. Irate, the lizardman raced up to Elsword and beat him with its staff. Elsword received three clean whacks to the head before the lizardman was stopped.

"Evoce!" a certain elf's voice yelled.

"You!" Aisha's angry voice came. "Only _I'm_ allowed to hit Elsword like that! Eat this!"

Elsword rolled away from the lizardman in time to spy Rena slicing the air with her dagger and producing a swirling sphere of bright green energy, headed directly toward the monster. Knowing Rena's form of combat, he fell to the ground, and the green sphere exploded the moment it touched the lizardman. Before it could regain its senses, Aisha was in front of it. She blasted it with two of her huge fireballs and instead of firing a third, she changed her mind and spun around with her staff blazing. A cloud of fire enveloped her and the lizardman. The cloud darkened, then cleared, and the lizardman was launched into the air. When it fell on the ground it was sizzling, its whole body charcoal-black, including the hair that was once white. Clamping her hand over her nose, Aisha stepped forward and bent down over the burnt monster.

"Aisha?" Rena called. The magician slipped her hand into a pouch the lizardman had been holding. Inside, she found a couple smooth orbs and a dark scroll. She took the pouch and stepped back.

"It's not dead yet," the girl said with certainty.

"I got it," Elsword leapt up from the ground with his sword and hurried to the lizardman. The moment he swung his weapon down and decapitated the creature, the scene around the group changed. Night had long since fallen upon the area, and a village was located half a mile behind the three. Unfortunately, the lizardman still lay on the ground near them, dead. "Lady El!" Elsword covered his nose. "It stinks!" Aisha nodded, then pointed at the village.

"I don't think we'll have trouble getting there now."

* * *

**SL: Don't we all love being side-tracked by lizardmen?**

**Aisha: Stupid... They're not important enough to include.**

**SL: If you want to go by that logic, maybe I should have excluded Shadow Forest.**

**Aisha: Fine with me.**

**SL: And you.**

**Aisha: WAIT WHAT?**

**SL: Besides, I wanted to stick the lizardmen in here because... They were so annoying in the game T_T Bethma in its entirety is just... Boring. SO THE LIZARDMEN MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN.**

**Aisha: Uh huh. But from what I remember, lizardmen don't make people hallucinate.**

**SL: That's why there's something called imagination :P Anyway, on to the reviews XD  
**

**to Orithia Windbell: Yes, it's finally a break time! :D And no... I don't study. I stare at a textbook and either punch it or throw it across the book in exasperation. You wanted to punch Raven? Good. He's mean enough then~ Clovis... Eh... I wouldn't say he's really an OC. He's one of those people I need who doesn't have any exact name but I use for about 5 seconds before discarding. For example, the soldiers I used in Ruben Village had random names. I only needed them for that specific place. Clovis will go poof later X3 Rena shall be awesome~ I just love her as a character, even though I don't really play her... Maybe I like the character because a guildmate of mine who plays on Rena is generally amazing. Lulz. Also, in the new story, guess who's going to be the antagonist :D (*cough cough* Who was the antagonist in Aisha's life? *cough cough*) And where did I see that? Hmm... I'm not sure.. **

**to Rosamanelle: LOL. Psh, killing people... Not good for your mental health D: AND WHAT? NO. THEY SHOULDN'T BE LOCKED IN A CLOSET. THEY SHOULD BE LOCKED IN AN AIRSHIP HIGH IN THE SKY. ALONE TOGETHER. (Because that way they can't escape, unless they want to jump out...) About IS... I'm sorry but... I'll have to say I don't like IS or Sheath Knight in the game. I mean, ShK is okay but IS is a little overboard. Still, I don't mind them in stories. They're nice actually, in the fanfictions I've read. And yes, I'll be posting the new story sometime soon XP **

**to NekoYinChan/Tsurara-Oikawa Chan: Oh wow, you changed your name again XD Man... I hope I didn't butcher it or anything... And what... Cave clapping? What's that? School is finally over, yay! Though, it feels kind of sad... I never liked middle school, but now I'm suddenly sad since I'm going to high school. Maybe it's because half of my school friends are going to the same high school and half of my other friends are going to another high school. Oh well. And 7th grade? Wow. You're young :0 God, people say 7th grade is the toughest year of middle school. Well, good luck! I didn't think it was too hard, but you just learn a lot of stuff in that grade... If you get a good teacher. Math, huh? I used to love math, until I got a horrible teacher for it -_-; Now writing is my favorite subject... and coincidentally my highest average grade in school since I try the hardest in it. And IKR? Somehow, it's always the math teacher who doesn't notice when you do random things other than math in his/her class. *uses math class as a free writing period* Again, thank you for the good luck for the exams XD But, I think you might be taking exams too, soon. It depends. I heard that in some areas, the school system is deciding to to give every student from grades 3-8 some sort of benchmark exam or midterms or finals to do... Meh. Congrats on your level! Only two away from 60... Wow. I don't know how people can do that... (Btw, I tried RS recently. I wish I knew how fun he was to play a long time ago :0) And thank you! I'll keep writing as best as I can. **

**to SquishyPenny: Oh boy, the editor... O_O AND YES I'M WORKING ON A NEW STORY. (only mentioned this like 7 bajillion times) No, I won't be like "f*** you, working on something else and too busy to update" I'm going to update regularly D: Psh... speaking of hiatus.. DX Also, seriously? Those faces... **

**SL: As a note, I'm going on a church retreat this Thursday but I'll be back on Sunday. I'll try to update on Sunday, though. Hopefully... **

**Aisha: And the new story?**

**SL: Dunno.**

**Aisha: o-o Yeah, okay. When are you introducing Eve, by the way? And Chung?**

**SL: Chung can stay in a hole until after Altera. :P Eve... All in good time. Look at the part where Rena is talking about nasods. Then think. :)**

**Aisha: o-o . . .**

**SL: Anyway, since this is done, I can write chapter 13 now! (Oh god I have no life) See you next week~ :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**SL: Finally back from retreat~ *_***

**Raven: What retreat?**

**SL: Church Retreat o-o . . .**

**Raven: Which is...?**

**SL: A way to get closer to God and get away from the world and stuff.**

**Raven: So technically... you're a monk? You know... Those bald guys in the temples?**

**SL: ... **

**Elsword: SL is a monk!**

**Rena: monk~**

**SL: I'M NOT A MONK, OMG. WHERE WOULD YOU GET THAT KIND OF IDEA FROM?!**

**Aeres: *walks in* Did I miss something? o,o**

**everyone but SL and Aeres: *points at Aeres***

**SL: . . . . .**

**Aeres: *backs away***

**SL: *turns toward Aeres* Hey Aeres~ C:**

**Aeres: OH NO. SHE'S IN CREEPY MODE. EVERYONE RUN!**

**everyone but SL: *flees from the room***

**SL: =_= Anyway, here's the story~**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Hypnotizing Orbs and Accursed Scroll**

"Kayak. That was his name, buch," the lizardman grumbled. The sun had barely risen over the horizon and it hadn't been long since Elsword, Aisha, and Rena arrived at Bethma Village. Upon the first step in the village, Elsword had yelled, "Lizardman!" and would have charged up to the creature to attack it, had Rena not stopped him. Apparently, this one wasn't dangerous. She was right so far. Chacha Buch, the only friendly lizardman Elsword had seen in Bethma, listened to what Aisha had to say about the magical lizardman - whose name had been Kayak.

"You see, buch," Chacha Buch continued, "Kayak is-"

"Was," Aisha corrected.

"-was an evil shaman, buch." The lizardman looked angry as he spoke about Kayak. "He turned against his own kind and used hypnotizing orbs to control some of us to do his own bidding, buch!"

"Wait," Aisha took out the pouch she had confiscated from Kayak earlier. Opening it, she took out a couple of smooth silver orbs. "Would these be hypnotizing orbs?" Chacha Buch's eyes widened.

"Yes, buch! Where did you get those from, buch?"

"Kayak," answered Rena. Aisha dropped the orbs back into the pouch and handed it to the lizardman.

"Here. I don't know what to do with these, so they'll be safer in your hands, I guess." Chacha Buch took it slowly and peeked inside.

"The accursed scroll, buch!" he exclaimed indignantly. Grabbing the scroll Aisha found in the pouch, he threw it to the ground and stomped on it, breaking it into pieces. After doing so, he plucked a glass vial of orange liquid from the pocket of his cloak and uncorked it, pouring the contents over the broken parts of the scroll. The pieces disintegrated when the liquid touched them, and Chacha Buch huffed, satisfied. The group stood, open mouthed, staring at him.

"Umm..." Aisha broke the silence. "Accursed scroll?

"Yes, buch!" Chacha Buch cried fervently. "It was the source of Kayak's power, buch! He used dark magic and many times he led travelers astray by making illusions of this village or other places, buch!"

"Oh, that's what happened to us," Rena realized.

"Yes, but now that he is dead, he is not problem, buch!" Kayak nodded his head, excited. "Now the only bad thing here is the stolen El, buch! And-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Elsword stopped him. "Did you just say, _stolen El_?" Chacha Buch paused, then nodded his head slowly.

"I do not know too much about what happened, but someone stole BethmaVillage's El again, buch."

"_Again_?" Rena questioned.

"Yes, buch," Chacha Buch let out a low rasp which could have been a sigh. "Bethma has had its El stolen quite frequently, buch. So the citizens are all required to carry around a tiny piece of El. In the past, we have been able to recover the El every time it was stolen, but a few days ago it was taken again, buch."

"Would you happen to know who took it, or where it could possibly be?" Rena inquired. Chacha Buch grunted.

"Only Stella would know that, buch."

"Stella?" asked Elsword.

"Buch!" Chacha Buch exclaimed. "Stella is this village's sheriff, buch! The toughest one around! She knows almost everything that happens in Bethma, buch."

"Oh." Elsword wondered just what kind of woman this Stella was.

"Could you show us where Stella is?" Rena requested politely.

"She is in her office, a bit farther into the village, buch. She's the one you want to ask about anything related to El. She knows more about it than anyone else in this village, buch."

"Ah, okay~" Rena smiled brightly. "Thank you! I suppose we'll be on our way." She was about to leave with Aisha and Elsword, but the boy asked,

"Why do you keep saying 'buch'?" The lizardman frowned.

"What do you mean, buch?" Aisha gave Elsword a shove.

"That's rude," she whispered. Then at an audible level, she said, "I'm sorry. Just ignore him." She turned to follow Rena to Stella's office. Still, Elsword had one more question.

"Can I call you Papa Buch? I think that sounds better." Aisha whirled around.

"Will you just... Ugh." She seized his hand and dragged him, leaving a perplexed Chacha Buch behind.

* * *

"Look, _Richian_, I don't have _time_ to deal with whatever problems you're having with your mines. Deal with them yourself."

"But, Stella!" a purple-haired man protested.

"I'm busy," a scowling woman with dirt-colored hair growled. She looked past him to see the three bunched in her office. "More people?!" She ran her fingers through her hair and heaved a loud sigh, sinking into her chair. "Yes?" She addressed Rena, presuming the elf was the leader of the group. Rena stepped forth, smiling awkwardly.

"Hello~ My name is Rena, and you're Stella, correct?" The woman nodded. "Is this... A bad time?"

"Well, it seems to be a 'bad time' every second of the day, so you might as well say what you need to, right now," Stella grumbled.

"Okay." Rena took in a small breath. "I heard that Bethma got its El stolen recently, and I was wondering if you knew who stole it, or where it might have been taken." The sheriff looked Rena over skeptically.

"Why... Do you want to know?" A tinge of suspicion hung in her voice. Rena cleared her throat.

"Not too long ago, Ruben Village had its El stolen, as well."

"And we're thinking the same person who stole Ruben's El might have stolen Bethma's," Aisha added. Stella narrowed her eyes.

"Who're you?"

"Oh." The mage suddenly looked embarrassed. "I'm Aisha, and this is Elsword." She gestured to the boy. "We came with Rena to get Ruben's El back." Stella nodded.

"Alright, then. As for Bethma's El, I have no idea. I've been trying to find out its whereabouts these past few days. I might have even found out by now if _Richian_ didn't pester me with _his_ problems." She gave the purple-haired man a pointed look.

"Oh?" Rena shifted her attention to the man, whose name, apparently, was Richian. "Pardon me for asking, but what problems are you dealing with?" Rolling his eyes, Richian cried,

"Does it matter if I tell anyone? _No one _bothers to help!"

"Actually, some people did," Stella pointed out. "But they never came back."

"Well, what happened?" Rena asked.

"Ohh... It's my mine," Richian sobbed. Rena lifted an eyebrow.

"Your... mine?"

"Yes!" The man bobbed his head up and down. "I'm sure you've heard of the Richie Mines?"

"You mean," Rena gasped. "The one that provides coal and metals to almost all of Rurensia?!" Richian's expression brightened significantly.

"That's it! The Richie Mines was my father's, but he passed it down to me, years ago."

"Oh, that's... cool." Rena tried to sound interested. "So what's wrong with it?" Richian sighed.

"A few days ago, someone took over Richie mines."

"Who?" Rena stared at the man. He threw his arms up, exasperated.

"I don't know! I just know _someone_ did. There are strange guards outside the entrance of the mines and none of my workers have returned to this village for a while. I can't get in the mines because of the guards and... some monstrosity that comes out of the entrance from time to time."

"Hmm?" Confused the elf tilted her head to the side. "What is this 'monstrosity' you're talking about?"

"I have no idea!" Richian exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like it! It's a moving hunk of metal like, like... a robot!" The three peered at Richian with expressions of disbelief. They knew exactly who had taken over the mines now.

"Richian, that's obscene," Stella scolded dryly. "You _know_ robots don't exist anymore."

"I swear, that's what I saw!" Richian protested.

"Ridiculous."

"Actually," Rena murmured, "I think he's right. And I think I know who took over the mines-"

"Well, then," Stella snapped. "That's _great_, but what about-"

"-_and_," Rena interrupted, "I think I know who stole Bethma's El."

"Really, now?" Stella narrowed her eyes. "Well, well, well." She sat back in her chair. "I guess you're all set, then. Why don't you run along and see if you're right?" Rena nodded.

"We will. Thank you for your time~" She forced kindness into her tone.

* * *

"Oh my god, can you _believe_ that woman?" Aisha complained. "She was _sooooo_ rude!" She scowled as she walked along with Elsword and Rena, toward the Richie mines. They had asked Richian for directions to the place before leaving the sheriff's office.

"Well, well, well," Elsword assumed a high-pitched voice. "Why don't you run along while I sit here yelling at people?" Aisha narrowed her eyes.

"_Very_ funny."

"Guys," Rena sighed. "Chacha Buch didn't exactly say Stella would be nice. He only said she was tough."

"She's got some sass," Elsword noted.

"Anyway," Rena fixed her eyes on a dot in the mountains, far away. "Do we all know the plan once we get to the mines?" She saw the two nodding from the corner of her eye.

"One," Elsword recited. "Sneak up to the guards and take them out. Two, enter the mines in stealth mode and find Wally. Three, beat the crap out of him and take the El back." Rena blinked.

"No... We have to locate the nasod before finding Wally, or it could attack us while we're not expecting it." She glanced at both of them. "Are we all clear on the plan now?" They nodded, and Aisha gave a quick thumbs-up.

If the three were lucky, they would be able to take the El back before tomorrow.

* * *

**Aisha: We get to take back the El! :D**

**SL: Who said that?**

**Aisha: *points to last line of the chapter***

**SL: "****_If _****the three were lucky" o,o You guys are never lucky.**

**Aisha: WHAT.**

**SL: Plus, if you guys got the El back so quickly, then this story would end faster.**

**Aisha: OAO**

**SL: Also, Raven didn't meet everyone, Eve and Chung weren't introduced, and there wasn't enough development between the paired characters yet~**

**Aisha: O_O *puts arms in a X***

**SL: :D I wonder what I should do with Aisha and Elsword...**

**Aisha: . . . . . . .**

**Elsword: *walks in* . . .**

**SL: Anyway~ On to the reviews~**

**to Tsurara-Oikawa Chan: Ohhhh, at first I thought you meant a cave-clapping (like the whole thing was some noun I didn't know of) LOL And yeah, I guess middle school is okay. Some people say high school/college is the best time of their lives. *still has yet to see* For 7th grade, I'd say it isn't ****_too_**** hard. You just learn a lot (depends on the teacher) so you need to pay attention in class Q_Q You can draw? O_O *respects people who can draw. can't draw a picture to save her life* For math teachers... Eh. I had like... two math teachers who noticed everything. They were like hawks, always on the lookout. Depends on the person, really. Good luck with any future exams you might have! Use some of that good luck you gave me! *gives it back* RS is actually really interesting (his job advancement was kind of annoying, but not as bad as void princess). I WISH I KNEW HOW FUN HE WAS TO PLAY A LONG TIME AGO DX *quits Aisha and makes Elsword the main* Also, I want to say, THANKS FOR REVIEWING PRACTICALLY EVERY CHAPTER. I think you were the first reviewer actually. It makes me so happy to see a review for this story (even though I don't say it all the time) and I just like hearing other peoples' opinions on what I write. So, Arigato Gosayimas! (probably spelled that incorrectly)**

**to Rosamanelle: Hmm.. I don't think anyone said that DX YES. LET'S LOCK THEM THERE. MEET AT MY HOUSE FOR THE PLANS :D *whispers fervently. stares at Aisha and Elsword indiscreetly. whispers again* AND WHAT. YOU WHACKED ELSWORD? YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE MORE THAN JUST AISHA COMING AFTER YOOH D: Ah... Elsword must learn magic beyond fireballs. Aisha has to teach him how to use incantations and junk *glares at Aisha while saying this* WHAT? LIZARDMEN HAVE BECOME DWs?! ... Wait a minute. Idea: DWs are lizardmen in disguise. O_O WE MUST PREVENT THE DWs FROM INVADING ELSWORD! *panic mode* And don't feel bad when you look at the chapters D: (Most of them are less than 3 k or 2 k words. Only a few are actually long =_=) AND YOU DON'T WANT TO HIDE IN A TREE. *Rena comes in as a TR, observes the forest* ROSA. RUN! GO BACK TO YOUR EMO CORNER. Uhh... On a side note, do you happen to have a SR/GA (maybe by now) named "Rosamanelle"? Because I saw one a few days ago before I left for retreat. I wasn't sure if it was you though. Derp.**

**SL: Well, that concludes this week's chapter :D Also... I might have a surprise tomorrow. Maybe.**

**Elsword: Depends if you're lazy or not?**

**SL: That's... a blunt way to say it. But yes.**

**Elsword: And what might this surprise be?**

**SL: It's a surprise, so shush. o,o**

**Elsword: o-o Tell me...**

**SL: It might be you falling into Tartarus toward your death if you don't stop asking. Anyway, until next time~ *warps out of the room***


	14. Chapter 14

**SL: So like, here's the next chapter! Woohoo!**

**Aisha: o.e Another short one? How many of these are gonna be short? Are you starting to get lazy?**

**SL: HUSH, CHILD. THE NEXT ONE WILL NOT BE SO SHORT (I hope). AND NO. I'M NOT STARTING TO GET LAZY. I WAS LAZY SINCE THE DAY I WAS BORED. HAHAHAHHAHA**

**Aisha: o-o . . . Umm... **

**Raven: When am I showing up again?**

**SL: Never. I'm gonna burn you alive for yelling at your soldiers. :D**

**Raven: . . .**

**SL: Jk. Uhh... 2-3 more chapters maybe?**

**Raven: Uh huh.**

**Elsword: SHUT UP AND START THE FRIGGIN CHAPTER, GAWD.**

**SL: ... o-o; *backs away***

**CHAPTER BEGIN. **

* * *

**Chapter 14: Concussion No. 2**

As the group hurried down a dark mineshaft, Aisha silently made a checklist in her head. Tie up and gag the guards? Check. Enter the mine? Check. Find Wally's nasod? Well, that part hadn't exactly been completed yet... Aisha mentally slapped herself. She should have taught Elsword beyond manipulating fire. Now that there was a possibility of facing the nasod, she wasn't so sure that they could defeat it. Last time, only Aisha could use magic effectively. At least Rena had a handle over it now, but if Elsword could do anything against, the nasod, that was questionable. Of course, the three had a better advantage over it. Still, was it enough?

The mineshaft opened up to a small, dim chamber, and Aisha fixed the lack of light by igniting her finger like a birthday candle, illuminating the place.

"Whoa," Elsword breathed. Even Rena let out a small gasp, and Aisha's eyes widened to a size that might have been fun to poke. Apparently, Wally's killer robot, or number eight, wasn't the only nasod in the Richie Mines.

Once Aisha filled the chamber with bright light, the group had all the eyes - or whatever robots had - of a swarm of human-sized nasods on them. Some were shaped like a top and floated in the air. Others wore thick, bulky shells and had drills for arms. The majority of the nasods, however, were no more than a collection on metal sticks put together. Aisha figured the creator didn't put too much TLC into them, because their arms were deformed and they hobbled around like something wasn't functioning properly in their legs. There was only one problem: they were hobbling right toward her and her comrades, and it probably wasn't because they wanted a hug.

Aisha was ready. She glanced at the sea of deformed metal. Flames flickered around her palms. Elsword assumed a stance that allowed him to grip his sword with one hand and hold fire in the other. Rena drew an arrow from her quiver. _Wait for it..._ As soon as the closest nasod was within ten feet of her, Aisha hurled four consecutive orbs of fire at it, making it spin and topple to the ground, burnt and broken. _One down, a lot left to go._ She continued expending her energy to lob fire at any enemy within range. In the back of her mind, the girl wondered how her companions were doing; she couldn't turn her head to check on them, since any opening she gave the nasods would give her a chance to lose her life.

**Boom!** Aisha heard one of Rena's magic-infused twigs explode far behind her. Good, the elf was holding her own ground.

**Clang!** What? Was Elsword fighting with his sword?! Aisha resisted the urge to turn around. If the thick-headed boy had any sense, he would switch to using magic. When the mage looked around her, she realized she had gotten herself surrounded. She swore under her breath. _I let myself get distracted! What do I do... Oh._ Aisha cursed herself for being so dumb, then examined the nasods surrounding her. They were all the deformed ones - a.k.a, the robots that needed more TLC. Okay, this would be simple. She let them hobble closer, then,

"Turbine ignis."

The mage leapt up in the air and stretched her arms out. Fire gathered around her, spinning and spinning at such a high speed that it shredded any nasod it came in contact with to pieces. Growing larger, the huge fire tornado Aisha had managed to conjure took up a quarter of the chamber's space. She hoped Elsword and Rena had the sense to stay away from her. Moments later, Aisha landed softly on the ground and the tornado dissipated, leaving shredded scrap metal in its wake. Still, more nasods came. Where were they coming from? Aisha scanned the chamber and spied an exit on the other side, through which dozens more robots were filing in. She narrowed her eyes. Before the girl could get surrounded again, she lobbed some fireballs at the incoming nasods, then turned around. To her right, Rena was holding her own ground with several of the robots. To her left, Elsword threw a few flaming spheres at his enemies before proceeding to slice through their metal bodies with a sword. Sighing, Aisha muttered,

"Eos eliminare." Eliminate them.

She slammed her staff down, and concentrated blue energy escaped from it, floating toward the nasods that surrounded her comrades. One-by-one, the already beaten nasods got hit by the blue missile and collapsed to the ground. The girl's comrades were safe, for now. However, the blue missile began moving toward her direction. _What..._ Aisha narrowed her eyes at it. **Clunk!**

* * *

Rena lowered her bow and looked at the fallen nasods around her. They were in no condition to get up and start fighting again. Elsword? She turned to see the boy surrounded by several broken robots, all on the ground. Aisha? The elf moved her head and gasped. A swarm of nasods grouped around a figure on the ground, smashing their arms against it. Rena couldn't see the figure, but she spied a bit of purple poking out from the group on the ground. _Aisha!_ Wide-eyed with alarm, Rena dashed toward her mage-friend, a magic twig already nocked on her bowstring. Elsword was one step ahead of her. He slashed at the nasods in the front, spitting curses out at them.

"Stupid scrap metal! Get the hell out of my way before I shred you into pieces!" He sent three of the top-shaped nasods to the ground. "Get _away_ from Aisha!" Some of the robots actually parted, peering curiously at him. Rena took that opportunity to fire her twig. However, at the last second, Elsword whipped around and blocked it with his heavy sword, making it detonate in front of him.

"Elsword!" Rena's arms hung at her sides and she stopped in her tracks. "What was that for?" The boy merely scowled.

"Watch where you're aiming." _Of course_, Rena realized. _That could have exploded near Aisha._ How could she have been so stupid? She nodded, understanding now.

"Sorry~" Darting to the side, the elf drew another twig from her quiver and somersaulted into the air. High up, she took a split second to pick out a croup of nasods in the back and fired her projectile at them. **Boom!** By the time Rena landed on the ground, her twig had exploded, taking out a group of nasods with bulky shells. Many of the robots began to realize she was a huge threat, and started hobbling towards her. It was too bad for them that she was prepared. Within moments, a majority of the nasods had surrounded her. That was a problem. For them.

"Evoce." Rena sliced the air and produced a bright, swirling orb of green energy. It pushed back the nasods in the front and exploded, destroying everything within its radius. Dazed, the other nasods realized too late, Rena had somersaulted behind them. The instant the turned around, she fired a bulky, green arrow that pierced through them with the power of the wind. In its wake, twigs were embedded into the ground, blinking furiously. **Boom! Boom! Boom!** One-at-a-time, they exploded before the remaining nasods could react, finishing them off. Sighing, the elf looked in Elsword's direction. He was busy defeating the last of the robots.

* * *

"Stay-" Elsword swung his sword with so much momentum, he spun around. "-away!" A deformed nasod clattered to the ground from the brute force of Elsword's attack. One fact the boy learned while fighting these things: even though they were nasods, he could still harm them with his sword, since they were considerably smaller than number eight and their armor wasn't too think. "Didn't you _hear_ me?" He narrowed his eyes at a nasod with a bulky shell. Lighting his hand on fire, he hurled a burning sphere at the robot and stabbed it in the side - which was starting to melt from his magic. The robot made an infuriated whirring noise, but when Elsword yanked his sword out of the robot, the noise faded into nothingness. The boy huffed, then looked around him. Nothing but broken nasods and his two companions - a.k.a, the two chaperones Hagus had made Elsword travel with. His eyes met with Rena's and a silent message was passed between them: make sure Aisha was okay.

Hurrying toward the mage and bending down, Elsword was relieved to see that Aisha was breathing, though she was covered in bruises and scratches. Rena stood over him as he thought of what to do.

"Aisha, come on!" he urged. "Wake up! All the nasods are gone... Plus, we need to find Wally!" The girl did not stir. Elsword scowled. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her back and forth. "You're not dead, and you're not hurt that badly! Wake up, already! Didn't you say you were a 'magic extraordinaire'? Didn't you say you'd help find Ruben's El? Didn't you say you'd teach me how to use magic effectively?!" He stopped shaking her, and his voice trembled with anger. "H-how can you let yourself get knocked out like this? Weren't you the one who tracked down Kayak? Weren't you the one who wiped out nearly all the nasods in here?" He started shaking her again, more violently. "Wake up!"

"Nnnngh... S-stop," Aisha croaked, "doing that." Elsword let go of her and her head hit the ground. "Ow!" She cracked her eyes open and looked at him with an annoyed expression. "I didn't mean for you to drop me. God..." She pushed herself up from the chamber's floor and sat rubbing her head. Wincing, the girl muttered, "Why am I always getting a concussion?"

"Are you okay?" Rena asked, standing over the mage. Aisha blinked.

"Sure, I'm fine. I only got hit in the head by a nasod twice and got dropped on the floor. Of course I'm okay." She staggered to her feet. "Anyway, weren't we going to find Wally?" Elsword stared at her.

"What about-"

"The nasod?" the mage finished for him. "I think number eight will be near Wally. I doubt he'd risk letting it go too far away to protect him."

"Right..." Elsword turned to Rena and she shrugged.

"Aisha has a point. Let's go." Already, the purple-haired girl was marching away, toward the chamber's exit. When Elsword began to follow, Rena stepped closer to him and whispered, "That was cute."

"W-what?" Elsword looked at Rena cautiously. Her strange grin didn't exactly reassure him.

"What you were saying to Aisha," the elf's grin widened. "It sounded like you really cared about her~"

"W-what?" Elsword's face turned the color of his hair. "Psh, w-what are you talking about? Caring about _that_ tomboy? Y-you wish! I just..." He stammered. "I-I didn't want to carry her sorry butt all the way to Wally. That's what it was!"

"Of course." Rena tried to keep a straight face. "Let's get going~ We wouldn't want Aisha to find Wally before we do, would we?" With that, she left, leaving Elsword to follow after her.

* * *

**SL: There we go~ *^***

**Aisha: ...**

**Elsword: ...**

**Rena: C: Elsword and Aisha 3 **

**Aisha: SDFU!**

**Rena: *turns to face Aisha with dagger in hand* Hmm? :D**

**Aisha: Nothing... o-o *runs away***

**SL: Okie. Anyway, to the lovely reviewers~**

**to Tsurara-Oikawa Chan: Yes. You got it :D And that's good. Middle school is an awkward place sometimes. *awkward penguin* But uh... Hmm.. I still have yet to see for high school and college :) AND LOL. Probably not. Maybe you can draw... Still, you'll be learning :) Mwahahaha *dumps a pile of books around you* Ahh... Drawing... One of the few talents I wished I had. I'm sorta average for it though, and a lot of my friends are so pro *^* And... Math teachers... God. I had one for 6th grade who pretended to teach, while in reality she played Solitaire on her computer and ate some muffins. Lulz... AND DON'T GO TO THE EMO CORNER. IT'S CROWDED ALREADY. *looks at Rosa, Raven, myself, 10020832543 other authors* XD Yep... RS is amazing. Just amazing. Derp. Uhhh the reason chapter 2 doesn't have any is because... I posted the first three chapters within the same day. LOL. **

**to Rosamanelle: LOL... Poor Eve *^* I don't feel bad for Wally No. 8 though. Hah. IKR? I KEEP IMAGINING SOME STUPID BOAT IN THE WATER. Then I look at Bethma's background o.e WHAT? YOU BEAT ME TO IT. NOOOO. I wanna shove him over a waterfall too :D Papa Buch? Umm... I made it up? Idk, I wanted to call him Papa Buch when I first saw him, and Chacha rhymes with Papa... so... Merf. Lol, I wanted Richian to overreact like that. ~~~ AND IKR? THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST STUCK TO ELSWORD'S PLAN. OMG. And don't be mean to Stella ;n; I couldn't refer to the actual npc's while I was writing this... So some of them were out of character D: Who else could Rosamanelle be? A FAN OF YOUR STORIES OFC. WHY NOT? Aww, your emo corner 3 Gonna redecorate it soon~**

**to Not-Alone-Anymore: Aww, thank you :O Lol... I don't like short chapters. I feel like I cheat other people who read the story when the chapter's too short, but okay XD At least there's someone who likes them. **

**to Orithia Windbell: LOL. It's fine XD The chapters aren't gonna run away or something... I hope. And you had a fever? D: Aww, good thing you're better though, right? C: Ah, Stella... I think I might have made her too mean. Oh well. But thank you!**


	15. Chapter 15

**SL: So like, here's a new chapter! :D**

**Rena: And I thought she wouldn't make it!**

**Aisha: What with her playing Elsword too much...**

**SL: I DO NOT PLAY ELSWORD TOO MUCH!**

**Aisha: What's that on your taskbar right now, then?**

**SL: ... *covers taskbar* NOTHING! WOOT!# # #$ Anyway, I got the chapter out, so isn't it good enough? O^O**

**Elsword: Such a shame... Other authors are making every-two-day or daily updates... Why are you taking a whole week?**

**SL: PSH, WELL... Well... Uh... Typing takes forever? :D**

**Rena: Because you get distracted way too easily...**

**SL: T_T Merp... Should I make it monthly updates, then?**

**Rena: O_O NEVER MIND. FORGET I SAID ANYTHING! ;;**

**SL: Good C: Now, let's start the chapter~**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Wally No. 8**

Aisha wished she was a nasod. At least _they_ didn't get headaches. Or did they? She wouldn't know, since she wasn't one herself. Still, Aisha had a deja vu feeling the moment she had woken up to Elsword's yelling. Then, she realized this was the second time she'd been knocked out, courtesy of a nasod. Her luck was just that amazing.

Now, she and her comrades were hurrying down yet another dark mineshaft, in hopes of finding Wally - a.k.a the jerk who stole the El of two villages and counting. Almost too soon, the mineshaft opened to a large, open cavern. Instead of finding Wally, however, the three came upon something else: survivors.

They were gasping, shuddering, and wearing ragged and torn clothing. Their sunken eyes seemed to plead, in faces caked with dirt. A gaunt, pale-faced woman from the group limped toward Aisha and her companions and begged,

"P-please... Turn back." Her voice hissed from her parched throat. "It is too dangerous here. Go, before it is too late!" Aisha's mouth went dry, and she wondered how to address this person.

"Um, excused me..." Rena stepped forward. "Would you happen to be one of the people Richian sent, by any chance?" The woman's eyes widened and her voice was filled panic when she spoke again.

"Don't tell me he sent _you_ as well! When he said something was wrong in his mines... I never thought... I-I never thought it would be like _this_!" She gestured sharply to the group behind her.

"Whoa, miss, calm down," Elsword said while holding his hands out. "Technically, that purple-headed guy didn't send us here. We came on our own free will." The woman gave a small, hissing gasp.

"W-why would you ant to come into the mines?! And by this point... Surely you would have faced the guards and-" Her face paled even more than it already was, if that was even possible.

"The robots?" Aisha finished for her. The lady bobbed her head up and down.

"There is not escape from here now," she rasped. "The robots and the guards... Behind you, they are blocking the way and will not allow anyone to exit the mines. It is such a pity... You kids like you dying at your age..."

"But we already took care of the nasods," Aisha stated, a blank look on her face.

"And the guards too," Elsword added. The woman's eyes softened sympathetically.

"Poor children," she murmured. "You are imagining things... Those robots, there were far too many for only the three of you to handle." Elsword and Aisha glanced nervously at Rena. She shrugged, then said,

"Miss, we _have_ gotten rid of all the robots. We aren't imagining things. The guards are also gagged and tied up. If you want, you and the other people can return home, before someone dies." The woman still didn't seem to believe the three.

"Five have died already..." The group shifted their gazes around the cavern to see she was right. five, ragged corpses lay in a far corner of the cavern, slowly rotting away. Aisha averted her eyes back to the woman. "Five dead," the woman rasped, seemingly in a trance. "Who will be next... I wonder... We shall all die here and rot away. The children, too. Poor children..."

The sound of metal clattering to the ground made Aisha jump up in surprise before she realized Elsword had dropped his sword on the ground. He seemed to shake, and his eyes burned angrily.

"Listen up, lady! I don't mean to be rude, but we _told_ you already: the nasods are _dead_." He pronounced the last words slowly and carefully, as if he were speaking to a four-year-old. "You can get the heck out of this place, now, but if you don't want to, that's fine." The woman didn't seem to understand him. She continued mumbling "poor children" and "imagining things" over and over again. "Damn it!" Elsword cried in aggravation, stomping his foot hard on the ground. "Is there any _sane_ person here who _understands_ what I'm saying?!" A man stepped forward hesitantly from the group and gently held the woman's shoulders.

"I apologize," he said to Elsword with a quiet voice. "She's been having nervous fits like this on and off the past few days... Ever since the first person passed away." He pushed the woman back toward the group. "Is what you were saying true?" He stared at the three with hopeful eyes.

"As far as we know, all the nasods behind us were obliterated, and the guards can't bother anyone for a while," Rena confirmed. "So... You could go back to the village now..." She paused, then unslung her pack and retrieved a few canteens and loafs of whole grain bread she had packed secretly, in case they found survivors wandering around it the mines. Handing them over to the man, she insisted, "You should go, now. Try to take everyone with you, if you can, because soon... This might not even be a safe place either." The elf inadvertently flicked her eyes around the cavern, one part of her wishing the safety of these people and the other part apprehensive of the battle that awaited them ahead.

Before they left the cavern to look for Wally, again, the three waited until the adults sent to the mines by Richian began to escape. Fortunately, the crazy woman regained a right state of mind and agreed to follow the others out of the Richie mines.

As the survivors disappeared from sight, the party of three trekked forward, out of the cavern and into... Get this. Another mineshaft. Instead of winding around in complicated patterns or tediously extending for over a mile, however, the mineshaft ended after a few dozen yards. Blocking any way forward was a huge boulder, jammed into the mineshaft's exit. Aisha and Elsword stopped a yard behind it, dismayed. Rena continued forward and touched the boulder's surface with her palm. Then, pressing her ear against the stone and waiting for a few moments, the elf began to smile.

"What now?" Elsword grumbled, while kicking the wall of the mineshaft. "We can't go forward, and there's nothing behind us so-"

"Elsword," Rena stopped him.

"What?" he demanded. She placed a finger on her lip, indicating that he should be quiet. She kept her ear against the boulder for a few more seconds before stepping back and saying,

"Wally should be on the other side."

"How do you know?" Aisha asked, more than a little doubtful.

"I heard the sound of a machine... Or something," Rena explained, "and Wally's shouting."

"That's wonderful," the mage said, a drop of sarcasm in her voice. "Now how are we supposed to get to the other side?"

"Aisha, do you think you can teleport us to the other side of the boulder?" Rena requested. Aisha sighed.

"I can, but that doesn't mean I will."

"Why not?" demanded Elsword. Aisha scowled.

"First of all, I don't know how big that hunk of a rock is in front of us. It could be gigantic, or ridiculously small. If I miscalculate its size and try teleporting the three of us directly to the other side, we might end up stuck in a boulder. Second, I don't know what's in the room in front of us, so if I moved us right in front of Wally's nasod by accident, we'd be dead in a matter of seconds. Is that enough for you, blockhead?" Elsword was about to utter a retort before he noticed Aisha wasn't scowling anymore. She was biting her lip, and a frightened look filled her eyes. _Of course,_ Elsword realized. _She must be afraid of trusting her magic in a situation like this, after that one incident..._ Sighing, he nodded.

"I got it. But how are we going to get to Wally?"

"Stand back," Rena commanded. Her two companions obeyed, knowing immediately that she was up to something. Standing stiffly in front of the boulder, the elf murmured, "Hello, friend." The boulder did not reply. Swiftly, Rena drew the dagger, Erendil, from her belt and sliced the air while whispering, "Evoca." A swirling, green orb of energy seemed to come from nowhere, and it floated forward. Rena glanced behind her and saw her companions standing. "Hit the dirt!" she yelled urgently, before throwing herself to the ground. Aisha and Elsword fell to the ground only a microsecond before the green orb exploded, reduced the boulder to rubble and sent a violent gust of wind through the mineshaft. A cloud of dust obscured the three's vision momentarily, and when it cleared, Rena was the first to stand. Rising to her feet and dusting off her skirt she, almost unnecessarily, said, "Farewell, my friend." Elsword stared at the elf after he got up, then crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out behind her back. Glaring sharply at the boy, Aisha shoved him into the wall and stalked forward next to Rena.

"Hey!" Elsword protested.

"Quiet," Rena hissed, taking a glance behind her. "I think I hear something." Elsword shut his mouth for the moment, and crept behind the two ladies, peeking over their shoulders. The boulder, completely obliterated, let the mineshaft open up to a large, bright room. Why it was so bright, Elsword couldn't figure out at first, until Aisha whispered,

"There's no ceiling. This place is open to the sky." She was right. When the boy strained his neck and peered out from the mineshaft, he saw a light, azure-colored sky, perfect except for the fact that it sheltered a huge airship. Hovering a few dozen yards off the ground, Lord Wally's airship harbored many soldiers, Wally himself, and the nasod.

"Quickly, quickly!" Lord Wally bellowed over the chattering of his solders. "Get this thing higher into the air! We have to meet up with the Black Crow mercenaries soon!"

"But, your lordship!" One of the men protested. "We're having a technical problem with this ship's engine!"

"And the turbines," someone else added. "It'll take at least ten minutes to get them to work again. Wally clenched his fists.

"Fine, fine!" he cried out. "Just get them fixed! We can't afford to waste too much time!" The men nodded, then hurried below decks.

"How come they didn't notice us?" Elsword breathed.

"They're too wrapped up in their own problems right now," Aisha muttered. She wiped her hands on her skirt, as they had begun to perspire due to her growing anxiety. Summoning her staff, she asked, "Ready?" Rena nodded, while tightening her grip on her bow.

"I was born ready," Elsword mumbled. Aisha rolled her eyes, then counted,

"Three, two, one."

At one, bedlam visited the scene. Rena dashed out of the mineshaft, into plain sight below the airship, while Aisha teleported to who-knew-where.

"My lord! There's an intruder!" one of the solder shouted on the airship, jabbing his finger in Rena's direction.

"Hmm?" Wally turned his head, and when he spotted the elf, he cried out, "You! You were one of the people at my castle! Why aren't you dead?!" Lifting her bow and nocking a glittering twig in place, Rena inquired loudly,

"Oh? Was I supposed to be dead?" She fired the twig. Flying up in the air, toward the ship, the twig seemed to miss its mark, as it merely landed on the deck at Lord Wally's feet, instead of piercing someone directly.

"Hah! You missed!" Wally cackled. "To think you became an archer with _that_ lack of skill! And what's this?" He peered at the projectile. "A twig? Oh, I'm _so_ scared. I'm just _trembling_ in fear right now." Rena feigned a look of disappointment.

"Oops!~" she said.

"Hmph." The lord smirked arrogantly and picked up Rena's twig from the deck, waving it in the air. "Aren't you supposed to shoot _arrows_, instead of pathetic little tree branches? Oh wait, I guess it doesn't matter if you can't hit your target," he taunted. In that moment, Rena snapped her fingers. The twig exploded in Wally's hand, causing a sudden burst of wind to knock the lord down.

"W-what?!" he sputtered, fumbling to get up. His sleeve was tattered and his hair was blown to the side.

"You're lucky that was my weakest one." Rena smiled sweetly, nocking an arrow this time and aiming it at the lord. "Now, what was this about not hitting my target?"

"You!" Wally glared at the elf in outrage. "Number eight!" A loud creak resounded through the area as Wally No. 8 rocketed itself off of the airship and made its way toward Rena. Something... Was different about it.

"What..." Rena lowered her bow, taking out the arrow and, instead, reaching in her quiver for a twig.

"Do you like my nasod?" Wally questioned. "I had it... upgraded." The new Wally No. 8 looked almost identical to the previous one, only its arms were colored red rather than yellow, and its legs were green instead of blue. "In fact, its real name is Wally No. 8 MK2," Lord Wally added. "It doesn't matter, though, does it? Because you're going to die, either way." The huge nasod landed directly in front of Rena, and lifted its arm to attack. Before it could, it received a faceful of fire.

"Eat this!" Elsword shouted, leaping in the air and lobbing a fireball down toward the center of number eight's body. Making more than a little scratch, the fireball heated the outer shell of the nasod, allowing Elsword to slice through it and make a huge gash in the nasod's armor.

**Beep!** Steam poured out of Wally No.8 MK2, through the gash in its center. Before the robot could act, Rena nocked a bulky, green arrow and motioned for Elsword to get out of range. The instant he rolled out of the way, Rena fired the arrow through the gash, hitting the nasod's core.

**B-beep! B-b-b-beep! B-b-** A heavy explosion blew Wally No. 8 MK2 into bits; apparently, Rena's arrow had been infused with frighteningly powerful wind magic. The elf looked up toward the airship and met Lord Wally's eyes.

"H-how?!" he demanded. "Before... In the courtyard you couldn't..."

"Magic," Elsword offered as an explanation. Now, he stood beside Rena, his sword firmly in his grip. "Hand over the El, now!" the boy yelled. "Bethma's as well! Or we'll have to take it from you by force!" he threatened. Most of the shock from Wally No. 8's defeat left the lord's face. Instead, he gave a smug smile and shook his head.

"I don't think so... Number nine!" Rena's face paled. _Number... Nine?_ From behind Wally, a huge, bulky robot appeared, making loud beeping noises. Wally gestured toward Rena and Elsword. "They're yours." The nasod emitted a series of beeping noises before launching itself off of the ship and landing on the ground in front of the two, knocking them down. Rena pushed herself off the ground and Elsword scrambled to his feet.

"Ready?" Rena breathed. Elsword nodded. "Now." Rena dashed behind the robot, while Elsword jumped up and hurled a sphere of fire at it. The first nailed it in the head. The elf drew her dagger out and muttered, "Evoca," before slicing the air and allowing an orb of energy saunter toward number nine. Upon contact with the nasod, the orb exploded, buffeting it. Then, the nasod froze, and sagged toward the ground. Elsword yelled at Lord Wally,

"Well?!" Instead of expressing concern, the lord grinned maliciously.

"I knew that would happen."

"Huh?" This took Elsword by surprise. Lord Wally looked behind him and asked,

"How long until we can take off?"

"Less than a minute, your lordship," someone answered.

"Perfect."

"Old man, stop ignoring us!" Elsword shouted. "You don't have anything else, do you?! give back the El!" Wally turned around.

"Hmm? Oh, I don't think so." He then pulled out a device from the inside of his cloak and spoke into it, "Self-destruct."

The nasod in front of Elsword and Rena whirred back to life, though it made no attempt to attack. Instead, in a robotic voice, it counted down,

"Fifteen. Fourteen. Thirteen. Twelve."

"Ah well," Lord Wally leaned against the railing of his airship." You have nowhere to go. I guess I won't be seeing you again. Good bye~" As if on cue, the airship rose slowly in the air, ascending and preparing to depart from the area. Elsword fumed.

"Why, you-"

"Six. Five. Four," the nasod droned.

Rena glanced at Elsword and the nasod. "What-"

"Three."

_Wait,_ Rena suddenly thought, _Where's Aisha?_

"Two. One."

* * *

**SL: Beautiful! Right? :)**

**Elsword: ...**

**Rena: . . . . .**

**Aisha: . . . .**

**SL: ... Right? o.o**

***crickets chirp in the background***

**SL: Uh... Guys... Hellooooo? Anyone alive? o-o HELLO?!**

**Elsword, Aisha, and Rena: *stay silent***

**SL: OMG, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD! NOW WHO WILL I HIRE TO ACT IN THIS STORY?!**

**Elsword: You- you... YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US!**

**SL: Says who? o,o**

**Elsword: Self-destruct mode... Wally's fleeing... HOW THE HECK ARE WE GOING TO STAY ALIVE?**

**SL: Ahahahaha... Good question. But... Magic :D**

**Rena: NOPE. NOT EVEN MAGIC CAN SAVE US. THERE'S NO WAY OUT?!**

**Aisha: And where the hell did I go? Did I leave them to die?**

**SL: Perhaps.**

**Rena: *takes out dagger* Aisha. You. Are. Going. To. Be. Dead.**

**Aisha: OAO *runs away while being chased* IT WASN'T ME! SL'S THE ONE WRITING THIS STORY! DON'T BLAME ME!**

**Rena: *continues chasing Aisha with dagger***

**SL: Lol :D *sits on the ground and watches* While we're waiting, here are my replies to the amazing reviewers~**

**to Not-Alone-Anymore: Ohhhh, I see. Well, there's nothing wrong with short chapters ^_^; AND YESH! AISHA LOVERS! *high fives* Yeee, ElswordxAisha ftw! :D**

**to Tsurara-Oikawa-Chan: I always get afraid of butchering your name whenever I type it... Awkward penguins all over the place, huh? That... Would actually be awesome, omg... OH NO! EMO PENGUIN! Uhh... CALL 911! NOW! CALL THE PENGUIN GOD OR SOMETHING! PRONTO! Ah, well... Thank you! XD Good luck to you as well! Drawing... Fun fact. My teacher told me that Adolf Hitler liked art or something, and he got traumatized/really angry that he couldn't get into a certain art school? I forget... BUT IMAGINE THAT. IF HE GOT INTO AN ART SCHOOL, WE WOULD KNOW HIM AS A FAMOUS ARTIST RATHER THAN AN EVIL PERSON O_O Yes, high school has art classes, but unfortunately... Our high school art courses are only for those who are very talented in art TwT Oh.. My math teacher isn't fat... she's gaunt o.e Though she's a lazy math teacher... GOOD. GET OUT OF THE EMO CORNER X) Still... Sunshine is okay but... The sun should die, anyway, lul :D Drunk. Dancing. Singing. Asians. What. And happy belated birthday XD**

**to MidnightPaladin: Oh my... That was... Long... O_O But still, I must say, THANK YOU SO MUCH! *hugs* Someone brave enough to give constructive criticism :'D In fact, I found most of the things you said very true and helpful XD Uhh... Should I directly address them?  
1) The Latin... There is a slight problem with that. Google Translate sucks with Latin, and I'm only in Latin 1 (technically Latin 2 in the upcoming year) so my vocabulary is limited... And I don't possess a dictionary or book for Latin at the moment... So I can only use what I remember o.e Still, someone suggested a different site to use for Latin words, and it's actually decent, so I'll be using it in the future :3 Also for Rena's "evoke" spell... I did try using Latin for it, and I believe I wrote "evoce" for it... However, that was not correct since "evoco" is first conjugation for Latin (I think...) and the imperative form would really be "evoca" instead of "evoce" so thanks for bringing my attention to that XD (I have to change it in the other chapters now...)  
2) With Kayak... Eh, I found that most fan fiction stories I've read didn't really include lizardmen, so I wanted to try something new XD Yes, it was strange that the Night Watchers were in the courtyard in the first place. I was worried about that at the time I was writing that part. Still, my perception on the Night Watchers is that they're really just a lenient/generally not strictly organized group that works for the good of the innocent people in Elrios... So I figured the NWs could have been passing through the area and noticed the commotion going on at Wally's castle?  
3) Yes, that method does work better but sometimes, I can't write a description for a sound very well (my lack of skill, lol)... It just doesn't flow smoothly with the rest of my writing. Though I do prefer the description, here and there I tried using onomatopoeia because it's what I've seen other writers do.  
4) Hmm... I see... Yes, this is a game, and the realism incorporated into the story doesn't have to be very strict, but you do have a very good point there. After I read your review, I asked one of my family members (who does work in the medical field) if staying conscious after hitting the ground that hard was possible. Her response was, "only for a few moments". Umm... What I did with Aisha... I guess it is "possible" but the chances of it happening are extremely slim... Staying and fighting... I don't know. Maybe Aisha stayed up too long? :/  
For Rena's somersault... I have no idea, really. I mean, she's an elf but then again... Being able to do that... o.e I remember reading in the book, Eldest, that once Eragon acquired the abilities of an elf, he could leap twenty, thirty feet in the air? Still, it's probably not the same as somersaulting..  
Oh god, that was a lot... BUT STILL, THANKS AGAIN FOR THE SUGGESTIONS TwT And yesh! Els and Aisha fluff~**

**to Orithia Windbell: XD Yep.. I'm not sure if I exactly said that he hated her, but he really acted like it through the other chapters :3 And teasing him is Rena's job, but if Rena dies... I'll gladly give you the job!  
Rena: OAO . . .**

**to Rosamanelle: Lol, guess you can't be mean to Stella now XP And, Allegro, huh? I don't like allegro... LIKE, NOT THE NPC, BUT THE TEMPO IN MUSIC XD Allegro strikes me as a shy sort of NPC... I don't really read the text from NPCs anymore, but the way Allegro looks... He just looks really shy... Rosamanelle Allegro (oh shoot, that needs to be accusative?) amat. C: Hmm, I made mine before this, too... BUT YOURS IS NAMED AFTER IT, SO THAT JUST MAKES IT MORE AWESOME! Hmm... I wonder if I should make a character named after this account... XP Rosamanelle... such a unique and amazing name... Aisha's checklist is awesome. And she was too busy contemplating other matters before she could put "murder Lord Wally" though I'm sure she would have put it on her checklist :3 Nasods are dogs, now? OH NOT YOU EVE. And Eve... I'm still mad at you for... doing you-know-what with Yin's RS. Unforgivable. Just unforgivable... *slaps Eve's cupcake out of her hands* Hmm, the first concussion was back at Wally's castle courtyard. Aisha got thrown into the air and hit the ground with her head o-o; Three second memory span? DON'T THINK ABOUT YELLOW DOGS. 3. 2. 1. Now what were you supposed to not think about? Yeah, sarcasm is nice, but not in cyberspace. It's way too hard to tell if people are using it or not. For example, I was saying, "Oh yes, a level 60 DEFINITELY needs more exp" in reply to someone who asked one of my guildmates if she needed help in the dungeons. My guildmate couldn't catch that I was using sarcasm... Hmm... *gets giant vacuum cleaner* GOOD BYE, OTHER 10020832543 AUTHORS! :D *turns on vacuum cleaner* Oh, Rosa, you can stay. The emo corner was designed for you XD**

**to SusumuSel: *hopes she didn't butcher the name, once again* Thank you! And... REALLY?! OAO Omg, I'm glad to hear that XD Thank you! No really... Thank. You. O-O**

**Elsword: You write way too much for some of your replies...**

**SL: B-but... I don't want to be rude... And I want to address most (if not all) of the things that the people said XP**

**Elsword and SL: *starts having a heated discussion about addressing reviews***

**Aisha: *still running around* HELLO?! *waves arms helplessly* ANYONE THERE? UH... WHEN CAN I STOP RUNNING?**

**Rena: When you're dead! :3 *continues chasing Aisha with dagger***

**Aisha: SOMEONE! HELP ME!**

**Eve: I apologize, child. You are beyond the point of help right now.**

**Aisha: *while running* SO UH, SL WOULD LIKE TO SAY, THANKS FOR READING AND REVIEWING?! SOMEONE, SERIOUSLY! HELP ME!**

**Rena: *while chasing Aisha* And remember, don't end up like this grape head! ;D**


	16. Chapter 16

***SL enters room***

**Aisha: Ello~**

**Elsword: Yo o-o**

**Rena: What's up?**

**SL: -_-**

**Elgang: o-o . . .**

**SL: *surrounded by dark aura***

**Elgang: *slowly back away***

**Aisha: What happened? o.o**

**SL: *sudden change of mood* I'm mad C:**

**Aisha: Why?**

**SL: Because my sister was playing with my fanfiction account yesterday... She deleted some chapters of this story, so I had to repost them... Plus, she put ridiculous reviews on this story under my name, and I can't delete them~ *eye twitch***

**Aisha: Oh...**

**Elsword: *whispers* Aisha... Get away. Now.**

**Aisha: Why? o-o**

***SL has exploded***

**Aisha: ...**

**Elsword: ...**

**Rena: ...**

**Eve: *pretends nothing has happened* Let us begin the chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Change of Possession**

The nasod exploded, and a bright flash of light enveloped the area, blinding Lord Wally's vision for a few seconds. When he could see again, he saw red-hot shrapnel below him and no more pesky travelers. _Heh... They probably got vaporized in that explosion..._ He snorted, satisfied, and paced back and forth on the center of the airship's deck, with his hands clasped on his back, anxiously awaiting the meeting with the captain of the Black Crow. What he did not realize was that his airship sheltered three stowaways...

* * *

"Nnngh..." Elsword squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see the scene before him. Was he dead? Did he go to heaven... or hell?

"Wake up, idiot!" Wait... That voice. Cracking open one eye, Elsword had the displeasure of seeing a fuming, purple-headed girl. "Gosh, I thought you would never wake up!" Aisha muttered.

"W-where are we?" the boy croaked. He opened his other eye and scanned his surroundings. It was too dim to see much, but he could just barely discern what looked like a bunch of wooden crates around him, and a green-ish figure in a corner. Aisha sighed.

"We're in the cargo hold of Lord Wally's airship."

"How?" Elsword inquired. "The other nasod was about to explode, and Wally was getting his airship ready to fly away-" A roll of Aisha's eyes cut him off.

"I teleported both you and Rena here, right before number nine could kill you."

"I thought you didn't want to teleport us, back in the mines," a bit of accusation hung in Elsword's words.

"It wasn't an emergency in there," Aisha snapped. "But it was with Wally." She huffed, looking away.

"O-oh..." _That's right... Aisha probably didn't want to teleport us, even if it was an emergency... But._ "Why did you teleport me the other two times?" Elsword wondered aloud. The girl looked at him and blinked.

"What?"

"With the Ent," he clarified, "and at Kayak."

"Oh..." The mage became silent for a minute, then answered, "It's easier to use magic on one person. With two, it's harder. Also, I had a clear idea of where I wanted to teleport, so I didn't need to worry about going to the wrong spot."

"One question," the green figure in the corner spoke with Rena's voice. "Where were you while we were fighting Wally's nasods?" Aisha's cheeks flushed with slight guilt.

"I-I... had a feeling something was going to happen during the flight with number eight, so I snuck onto the airship and scouted the inside of it, in case I had to... you know."

"Bring us here?" Rena asked. The girl nodded.

"Sorry about... Ditching you guys."

"It's fine," the elf said. "You saved us, anyway. Now, if no one's hurt, I believe it's time to meet up with Lord Wally, once again."

* * *

The distinct outline of another airship caught Wally's eye as he paced back and forth on deck.

"My lord, that's the Black Crow!" one of the soldiers on deck exclaimed.

"Indeed." A large grin spread across Wally's face. _It won't be long now... Soon... My riches will be multiplied!_

The Black Crow flew straight toward Lord Wally's airship. Pretty soon, the lord could see the men on deck, most of whom wore dark masks to hide their faces.

"Lord Wally." A man with a menacing aura stepped forth from the group. His dirty, jet-black hair stuck up in the air, a permanent scowl was plastered to his face, and his bare chest bore numerous scars. Sheathed and hanging at the man's waist was a long, slender blade. None of these things appeared as threatening, however, as the glinting metallic arm that was attached to the man's left shoulder. Still, Wally looked directly at the man, unfazed. All that mattered was the business he had with the person.

"Good day, Raven," the lord said to the man pleasantly. "How are you?" Raven, the captain of the Black Crow mercenaries, narrowed his eyes.

"That doesn't matter. Let's get straight to the point as to why you're here. Do you have the El shard?" Wally sighed with a strained smile.

"Yes, of course I do. But I have two. I took the opportunity to take Bethma's as well. Does that make you satisfied?" Raven narrowed his eyes.

"Bring them out." Wally turned and called out to one of his soldiers,

"You heard him! Bring both of them out!"

"Umm..." The soldier looked nervously between Wally and the captain of the Black Crow. "Your lordship, we can't..."

"And why not?" Wally demanded petulantly.

"Both of the nasods you had were destroyed, and the El shards... They're too heavy." The soldier gulped, visibly trembling as he met the ominous, amber-colored eyes of Raven. The silence that followed seemed to go on forever. Raven's hard face became emotionless, Wally trembled with either rage or embarrassment, and the soldier shook with fear.

"Well then..." Wally cleared his throat. "Perhaps instead we can transport these El shards with my airship. I'd be fine with taking them wherever you need to bring them to. Would that be okay, Raven?" The captain scoffed.

"That plan has two flaws. One," He snapped his fingers. One of the soldiers at his side, an archer, nocked an arrow in a single motion and fired it toward the other airship. His aim was true, and the arrow pierced through Lord Wally's chest with a dull _thud_. The "lord" fell to the ground in an instant, his eyes widening incredulously.

"H-how... Could you," he gasped, before his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"Two," Raven muttered, continuing as if nothing happened, "Take over the ship," he commanded his men. "Make sure no witnesses are alive. We'll have to send that ship with the El to our destination. Go." As soon as the captain finished, some of the soldiers hurried below decks to inform the others, and some hurled grappling hooks at the fallen lord's airship, which caught onto the railing. Before the soldiers on Wally's airship could cut the lines harnessing their ship, the men on the Black Crow yanked the ropes violently, pulling the other airship in closer and closer. While all this was taking place, a certain trio of travelers were hidden among a stack of crates on the deck of the Cargo Airship.

"Crap," Elsword muttered, "What now?"

"Quiet!" Aisha grumbled, despite the fact her little outburst was louder than Elsword's. Rena peeked out at the scene unraveling before them, thinking carefully.

"Aisha," she whispered. "Is there any chance you can teleport us on to the other airship?" The magician's eyes widened.

"If we get caught on there, we'll be killed!"

"But," the elf stared at the girl, "Those soldiers on the other airship are going to search this place carefully. If they find us..." Rena didn't get to finish her explanation, as Aisha grabbed her hand - as well as Elsword's - and murmured some unintelligible words. Within a second, the three were teleported onto the Black Crow, in the cargo hold.

"Ack," Elsword coughed, "It smells like gunpowder in here." He waved his hand in an attempt to get rid of the dust floating in the air. Unfortunately, the dust flew into Aisha's face, causing her to cough violently.

"Elsword!" Aisha hissed, while choking on the dust. She went through a brief coughing fit before breathing normally and glowering at Elsword. "We're in the cargo hold of this ship, I think," Aisha explained, still shooting Elsword a dirty look. "It smells like gunpowder in here because there _is_ gunpowder." The boy blinked.

"Why would they have-"

"For cannons, dummy," Aisha cut him off. "This is the Black Crow, the most feared airship in all of Lurensia. It sucks, though... The fact that we had to come this close with the people here. I'm starting to think... There's a bigger reason behind the theft of the El." Elsword merely stared blankly at her the whole time.

"Black Crow?"

"Yes," Aisha clarified, slightly annoyed. "That's the name of this airship.

"Never heard of it," Elsword said.

"The Black Crow: the ship of the Black Crow mercenaries, who terrorize many parts of Lurensia, steal from towns, obliterate cities, and wreak terror into the hearts of many people," Rena murmured quietly, finally speaking. "You probably never heard of it, Elsword, because your village is small, and the Black Crow mercenaries mostly go for the big cities, like Velder."

"Oh." Elsword still had a blank look on his face, but some of the confusion he had, cleared. "Well then," he straightened up and gripped his sword. "We'll have to beat them up, right?" Aisha stared at him, her eye twitching.

"One last thing," she spoke slowly. "The captain of this ship... He's part nasod."

* * *

**Aisha: So that concludes this week's chapter... Yeee... *stares at pieces of SL on ground***

**Elsword: o-o When do we use that resurrection stone thing on her?**

**Aisha: Let's wait a bit... I'm afraid she may explode again if we bring her back too quickly.**

**Rena: While that's being done, let's move on to the reviews?**

**Elsword: Wait, you have the replies?**

**Rena: ... I'll try to answer them as best as I can. (speaking from SL's point of view) Anyway...**

**to Tsurara-Oikawa Chan: Yin is a nice name to call you. Yes, the penguin god ****_will_**** save him. Just watch. Eh, if Hitler could follow his dream, he probably wouldn't have been angry, and he probably wouldn't have wrecked the world. Maybe Stalin would have, though. Eh... My friends told me a few tips, but I can't follow through XD Perhaps it's the job... Maybe there's some sort of curse that makes all the teachers lazy.. Yes, let the sun die. The sun can go die in a hole C: Lucky XD Most of the weddings I go to are held at my church... But it's a big church... Lots of places to hide XP**

**to KoraDora: Where have I heard that name... Does it come from an anime? And thanks~ C: Yes. I have seen Aisha's new class... But... Eh, VP forever :3 Still, opinions are opinions. I ****_am_**** excited for NW though :D**

**to Rosamanelle: Psh, I'm still jelly. Chapter 11 of your story. Amazing. T-T LOL *makes a Rena just to see that moment* Ahh I see. Well, Rosamanelle looks better than Roseamanelle, so hah! O-O Okay, then... DON'TTHINKABOUTWHITEDOGS. Three. Two. One. What are you thinking about? Yep, let the nasods get destroyed... Wally's dead, too. Screw him :D Lol, that lady needs some advil or something... Hmm... The bodies... THAT'S A PLOTHOLE RIGHT THERE. Gah... Did you just... smash that rock... On Eve's head? O-O Hmm... Your corner needs to be decorated again...**

**to MidnightPaladin: Oh well, I don't mind a long review XD Though when I saw your first one, I was like... Whoa. Anyway, to the point..**

**1) Yep, I guess it's nice using Latin, and you're probably right... Most of the readers most likely wouldn't know much about the language.. Still, I should at least make sure the words I'm writing there are correct. It bothers me when I don't... XP**

**2) Ah, I see. The timing was awkward, though I wanted to include it... At the same time, I wanted the three to go immediately to the mines after getting to the village. Oh well XD**

**3) Oh. Wow. I did not notice that... Maybe it**

**_is_ style then o.e In some places, it feels right to put a description, but in other places, to me, it feels strange not putting onomatopoeia in there. It really depends what's going on at the moment.. Opinions.**

**4) Oh okay. *goes up to Mom and repeats that* /slapped XD Her expression... God... That was worth it.**

**Eragonnnnn 3 Ah, I see. Well, I'm not an acrobat either, so it was stupid of me to put that. Let's pretend Rena could do that, because she's awesome. Sshhhhhhh NO ONE KNOWS THIS! O-O**

**Lol. Still... Those other writers like Snow posting every two days... Pro. Their speed is pro. But it's worth waiting more time if you can read over your story and eradicate most of the mistakes in it :D**

**Huh, like... =_= or =.= ? Or... How about that Elsword portrait in a loading screen before a dungeon?**

**Yay! *doesn't know if she's developing the characters properly or not* Well, that makes me happy XD Foreshadowing, huh? *didn't notice that* I should stop writing things without knowing why I'm writing them... owo And Rena's awesome. She's unique. She's dangerous.**

**Parallel structure? o-o *decides to google that later* Yeah, I'm just really stupid in this area. Writing and... English in general has always been my weak point XD Eh, I'll just search up half of those fancy words you said when I don't have a friend nagging me C:**

**Hmm... *imagines a Pokemon battle***

**I choose you! Richian! Use slash! *Richian can not use slash* ... Use Wake-Up Slap! *Richian can not use Wake-Up Slap* ... THEN WHAT CAN HE DO? *stares at screen* ... Splash. Are you kidding me. HE'S THE MOST USELESS POKEMON EVER.**

**to SusumuSel: Good. I hate butchering names. Uhh... Wow, yeah... I guess he wasn't too worried though, because he had a back-up. And Wally couldn't flee at the moment. There was something wrong with the airship's engine and turbines. Still, for MK2, he could have made it explode... Poor planning on his part, let's say XP**

**to SquishyPenny: o_o Hello. How has the penguin god been lately?**

**Rena: *clears throat* That's all for this week :)**

**Elsword: *salutes***

**Aisha: Morituri te salutamus.**

**Elsword: Now what the heck does that mean?**

**Aisha: Those who are about to die, we salute you. I think... I'm not sure if I said that properly.**

**Elsword: *eye twitch* Now who's about to die?**

**Aisha: Everyone. KTHXBAI SEEYA LATER! *ditches room***


	17. Chapter 17

**SL: Here I am with another short chapter :D**

**Aisha: W-w-w-waitttttt... Weren't you in pieces on the floor?**

**SL: o-o . . . Hmm?**

**Aisha: o-o**

**SL: ... OH RIGHT. I used a res stone, so all's good~**

**Elsword: o-o**

**SL: I mean... No one bothered to use one, so I had to use it myself. You guys must have run out, because if you had any, you would have used it, right?**

**Elsword and Aisha: *sweatdrop and hide res stones behind their backs***

**SL: Right? o.o**

**Elsword and Aisha: *nod quickly* Uh huh!**

**SL: Alright, onto the story**

**Raven: Do I come up in here?**

**SL: Yep. Chapter begin~**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Seris?**

The captain of the Black Crow watched with mild boredom as his men eagerly jumped from the Black Crow onto the Cargo Airship. Getting a lord to steal El shards was easy. Too easy. Standing still and watching as his men hacked through crates and rushed below decks of the Cargo Airship, Raven wondered - only for a split second - if he should spare the lives of the soldiers of the dead lord. Then it came.

"Arggghhh," Raven hissed, tugging at his left shoulder. A surge of electricity raced up and down his metal arm, causing pain to explode through the captain's head. "Nnnnnngh!" His usual emotionless face was twisted by the pain that invaded his body. The captain slid down to the ground, clutching his arm and rocking back and forth. White spots danced in his vision and Raven clenched his teeth, waiting for the pain to subside. For a few terrible minutes, he feared it would never go away. The agony pierced through his mind like a thin-headed arrow. He wondered what the point was, living a life where his arm could be his bane. He wondered what his purpose was, for he had forgotten in the sliver of time his arm went haywire. Memories flashed through his head: imprisonment, betrayal from someone he trusted, people he knew dearly getting slaughtered before his eyes... _Slaughtered... Before my own eyes... Seris._ The captain gasped, his eyes widening. _Seris... Now I remember... Your death... I will avenge it. I'll destroy cities like Velder for killing you._ As soon as Raven began thinking this, the pain in his arm vanished, almost as if by magic. Raven's usual scowl returned to his face and he stared at the opposing airship in front of him, knowing exactly what to do. Heading to the control room, Raven found Clovis inside, standing beside the pilot.

"Clovis," Raven called gruffly. The second-in-command turned around, while the pilot continued controlling the airship.

"Oh, Raven. Did you need me?" Clovis inquired leisurely. The captain narrowed his eyes, slightly irked by his second-in-command's otiose behavior. Somewhere in his mind, he regretted ranking all of his soldiers by their combat skills; even though Clovis could put up a good fight, his attitude wasn't exactly the best.

"First, don't call me Raven," Raven growled. "Second, you shouldn't be here. I want you to go on Wally's airship and make sure it goes to... the place we decided to take the El shard to. The idiot lord didn't have any means of transferring the El from his ship to ours, so you'll need to take over the controls of the other airship. Are you clear on that?"

"Sure, sure," Clovis drawled, "But what about you? And the Black Crow? There are only about a dozen men left on this ship, since most of them are on Wally's airship right now..."

"I'll follow you, of course. Unless there's a problem I wasn't informed about?" Clovis frowned slightly.

"Well... One of our men said he caught some lady in the cargo hold."

"What?" Raven hissed. "There was someone in the cargo hold? How?" Clovis shrugged.

"No one knows how she got there. She just jumped out at several of the soldiers and knocked them unconscious, but there were too many for her to handle. Our men overwhelmed her and captured her. They closed off the exit of the hold, and now she's trapped in there, with the soldiers watching her carefully." Raven's eye twitched.

"Why didn't they kill her? That's what we do with any intruder we have."

"About that..." Clovis's lips curled upward in an embarrassed grin. "This person was different. She looked like someone you mentioned knowing from the past. What was her name... Seris?" The captain stared blankly at his second-in-command for a moment, then huffed, annoyed.

"This isn't funny, Clovis. Seris is dead. You must be mistaking that woman for someone else."

"No, no, no, really, Raven!"

"Captain," Raven corrected. Clovis bit his lip.

"Captain, it was her, I swear she looked exactly like her!" Raven rolled his eyes, unconvinced. Still, he muttered,

"Very well. You will go on Wally's airship and take it to our next destination. I suppose I'll have to deal with this so called 'Seris'. Afterward, I will catch up with you. Are you clear?" Clovis nodded quickly. "Go." The second-in-command hurried off to carry out the orders, while Raven left the control room and made his way down to the cargo hold.

* * *

Rena dusted herself off, letting out a soft sigh. Looking behind her at a stack of crates, she asked,

"Are you guys okay?" A purple-haired magician poked her head out from behind the crates.

"Are they gone?" she whispered.

"Well..." Rena glanced around the room at the bodies stacked in the corner. "I took care of them, but they're still here... I don't think they'll be waking up for a while, though." After having this confirmed Aisha came out and walked toward Rena, with Elsword behind her.

"What now?" the boy asked. "What if there are more soldiers above the cargo hold? Also... Wouldn't people know we're here by now?"

"I saw one man leaving this room, with the uniform of someone high up in rank. I think... He probably went to the captain to tell him that someone was on the ship. Still, he didn't see you two, so the captain probably won't see the intrusion of his ship as a major threat. It probably would be best if both of you hid again, before anyone else comes."

"But what about you, Rena?" Aisha questioned. "The captain might come down any minute. You can't handle him alone. He could kill you!" Her voice rose in pitch with each word, and it was evident that the mage was panicking. Instead of fretting along with her, Rena surprised the girl by giving her a confident smile.

"Just because he's part nasod doesn't mean he'll be that threatening. He's got to have some sort of weakness. Besides, if I end up having to fight the captain, and get in trouble, you two would come to help, right?" At this, Aisha nodded her head quickly. "Now go and hide," Rena ordered in a lower tone. "I think I hear someone coming." Indeed, the elf, having hearing greater than that of a human, picked up the sound of quiet footsteps on the stairs leading to the cargo hold, while the girl and boy heard nothing. Aisha rushed silently back to her hiding spot behind the crates, dragging Elsword along with her. _Rena... I'm trusting you on this one,_ the mage thought silently. _But... What if something goes wrong? What if you... die before Elsword and I can help you?_

Within seconds, the door to the hold burst open, and the captain of the Black Crow mercenaries stood within the doorframe, first with an expression of anger, then shock and disbelief. Rena stood still while the captain scrutinized her, not daring to make any move that could provoke an attack from him. Seconds passed by, void of any sound. The elf cleared her face of all emotion, staring blankly at the black-haired man. She had learned to do this early in her life, as to not give anything away to possible enemies. Finally, the man murmured in disappointment,

"You're not Seris." This reaction caught Rena by surprise. Shock, she expected. Anger wouldn't have puzzled her, but disappointment? The elf quickly concealed her confusion and instead inquired,

"Who's Seris?" She received a harsh glare from the captain.

"None of your business," he snapped with a gruff voice. "Who are you, and why are you on my ship?" Sighing, Rena didn't see any reason to resist. Yet...

"I've come here to take back the El you stole," she announced in a confident voice, the corners of her lips rising as she grinned. Despite how she acted, the elf was slightly terrified inside. Sure, she had faced worse in the past but the person standing before her seemed cold, dangerous, and not afraid of losing his life in a fight. That much Rena could pick up from examining him. The captain narrowed his eyes.

"I asked, _who are you_." Rena's mind raced as she thought quickly and carefully, trying to stall for time. The man's metallic arm twitched slightly, and his other hand crept toward a blade sheathed at his waist. "Answer my question," the captain snarled.

"Some call me elf," she blurted out, "Others call me archer, and few call me friend." Though providing a name would have been far easier for Rena, she had a feeling the moment she gave a straight answer, the man in front of her would attack. There was something holding him back, some kind of hope or belief that he needed to confirm before getting rid of her. Frustration showed blatantly in the captain's face. He clenched his metal fist and demanded,

"Give me a name, or I'll chop off your head and have your corpse tossed overboard." The captain's amber eyes glinted ominously. Rena gulped.

"How about you tell me your name first, and I'll tell you mine?" she offered. The man glowered harshly.

"My name does not matter to someone like you. Stop wasting my time."

"Oh, what a pity~" Rena sighed softly, noting the person's growing anger. _Think, Rena. Think._ "People call you captain," she began slowly, "The captain of the Black Crow... With raven-colored hair." Rena paused. "Perhaps... Some call you Raven?" She waited apprehensively, and within the next few moments, something that could have been surprise registered on the captain's face.

"H-how did you-" He stopped.

"So your name _is_ Raven," the elf pressed. _I knew it,_ she thought to herself as she observed the man's expression. The captain, now identified as Raven, clamped his mouth shut and looked Rena in the eye.

"_No one_ calls me that," he spit out venomously. In one, fluid movement, Raven drew a long, slender blade from his sheath and charged toward the elf.

* * *

**Raven: Tch... Cheap.**

**SL: Hmm? o-o**

**Raven: Another cliffhanger. Really?**

**SL: C: . . . Would you like me to write a better cliffhanger then? Perhaps more blood and gore. That's what you want, right?**

**Raven: O_O . . . NO, IT'S FINE. FORGET I SAID ANYTHING.**

**SL: Kay... Now, lesh move onto the reviews, before I decide to change the ending.**

**to MidnightPaladin: Yep! It's fine, though... For an asian parent, she's really lenient... Hmm... That didn't work. Derp. For the foreshadow, that actually seems like a decent idea XD Maybe I'll use it later. O-O I SEE. TYVM, SIR. *takes notes on everything you say* Merp. The Raven part is giving me some writer's block... I can't seem to write it without feeling awkward about what I wrote XD Oh well... This chapter was actually supposed to be longer, but I kept stopping every few minutes, staring at the page I wrote and feeling strange, so... =/ Ponggos, huh? O_O Heh... Dem ponggos in Altera are so fluffeh! Eve... She shall have a decent backstory (imo) C: AND BE PROUD. YOUR REVIEW WAS CONSIDERABLY SHORTER THAN THE OTHER ONES THIS TIME XD**

**to KoraDora: I was helping a friend with her NW quest the other day XD It seems like hell though... The drop rate... GL, if you're not NW already... Ohhhhh that's the anime I was thinking about XD I've heard about both of those animes, but I don't watch anime avidly. *needs to do that***

**to Tsurara-Oikawa Chan: STEP FORTH YIN, AND CLAIM YOUR RS HERE! Jk, lol... Dat evil CN... And... COURSE IT WOULD WORK. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE PENGUIN GOD HERE. Hmm... Because... *searches mind* OH YEAH! Art... =w= And... I can't even follow through... She said I needed to work on shading or something... I really have no idea where to shade... Mmhm, stick someone who went to an ivy-league college and have him paid more than the other teachers. Problem: he's a stupid lazy-butt. Of course. And the hole shall be... TARTARUS. Hmm... Asians are just awesome like that? :3 And of course. You can hide in the graveyard!**

**to Rosamanelle: NO, I DON'T KNOW THAT REFERENCE T-T Heh... Ship stealing Raven... Psh, Raven shall be evil first! Then Rena will do her awesome stuff, and then it'll be like an Eragon and Arya thing.. Rena's too cool for Raven ;-; (atm) Hmm... Explosions everywhere... Perhaps someone will write a story like that? Gunpowder... Yum. O-O HOW DID YOU KNOW?! OMG! Heh... *inches closer to Aisha* Hey... Aisha... I heard you liked Elsword.. Is that true? :3 Aisha: O_O *drops sandwich and runs away* (lolwut why was she holding a sandwhich) Ahem... Oh mai... DUN SCRATCH DEM. SHOVE SOME ICE ON THEM :D *doesn't get mosquito bites, cannot empathize* Afterbite clears my stuffy nose whenever I sniff it C: So I use it for that XD OH LOL. GOOD. WALLY'S HEAD, MUCH BETTER. Heh... Aisha ftw (except DW and BtM, they can die in a hole... Sorry to them though T-T) I like mah VP~ And EM... But VP's better C: (again, imo) And look at all those Renas since NW came out... Wow... Just wow...**

**to Light15XV: O-O Clovis did, Raven can tell the difference, but I think later he'll imagine her as Seris or something, maybe? Depends how it goes... Though yes... The main story did have that =w= *fantasizes about Raven and Rena* Heh.**

**SL: And that's it. LET'S WRAP IT UP, PEOPLE. IT'S LATE.**

**Elgang: o-o . . .**

**SL: Until next week, seeya~**

**Rena: *mutters* I'mma be almost killed in the next chapter...**

**SL: You don't know that X3 *flees from room***


	18. Chapter 18

**SL: Oh goodness, now I know I messed up somewhere in this story.**

**Aisha: o-o?**

**SL: I probably messed up with Raven... *shrugs* Then again, I messed up with yours too :D**

**Aisha: What are you talking about o-o**

**SL: For Raven.. You'll see... But for you, your past isn't accurate... It doesn't follow the exact past you had in the original game plot.**

**Aisha: You mean... I DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL MAI COUSIN!?**

**SL: Yep...**

**Aisha: ... What have you done.**

**SL: I love evil headmasters. That's what. C: Anyway... Went on a camping trip this week, but... Still made it on the deadline! X3 *proud of herself***

**Aisha: o-o You know... Other writers update daily, or every other day, or two times a week, or-**

**SL: SHUSH! O^O *shoves Aisha into a closet***

**Anyway... Commence chapter 18!**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Crash Landing**

**Clang!** The sound of metal hitting metal resonated off the walls of the cargo hold. The moment Raven swung his blade down, the unknown lady blocked him with a dagger she had pulled from her belt. He narrowed his eyes. So did the elf. Experimentally, the captain jabbed to the left. The lady blocked his blade, once again. He feinted to the right and went for the elf's side. Even then, she caught his sword by the hilt of her dagger. Wordlessly, Raven wove his sword in a series of complicated loops, jabbing, swinging, thrusting, feinting, parrying, and stabbing. The woman blocked every blow, holding her ground. _She's... Not bad_, Raven realized. He pressed harder, executing complicated maneuvers he never had to use in years against another person. Over and over again, the woman blocked his blade with her dagger, but never made an offensive move. She stayed on the defense, watching Raven's movements closely. Finally, the captain resorted to different tactics and raised his arm, releasing a burst of fire at the elf's face. However, she was not harmed. Before the flames could reach the lady, she slid to the ground and kicked Raven, sweeping him off his feet. In a single move, she used her dagger to twist Raven's blade out of his hand, disarming him. Before the woman could make another move, Raven leapt to his feet and scanned the room for his sword; it had skittered away behind a stack of crates. When the captain tried to go and grab his blade, however, the elf jumped in front of him, blocking his way. _Crap,_ Raven cursed silently and narrowed his eyes, all the while keeping distance between him and his enemy. The lady had the upper hand now, since Raven was separated from his weapon. Yet, what his opponent did in the next moment was unexpected.

* * *

Rena back-flipped away from the captain and landed on her feet beside the crates where her foe's weapon had had been knocked away to. Swiftly scooping up the sword, she tossed it to Raven, who caught it with wide eyes.

"Why would you-"

"It wouldn't be fair to fight someone who's unarmed, would it?" Rena asked, while flashing a huge grin at him. The captain shook his head in disbelief.

"Either you're that confident in your own fighting skills, or you're just that stupid." With that, the two commenced to fight again, but it seemed to Rena that Raven's scowl softened, just the slightest bit.

* * *

_What _is_ she doing?!_ Aisha thought worriedly. She couldn't see what was going on, nor could she peek out at the scene from behind the crates where she hid, fearing that the captain of the Black Crow would spot her. From listening to the sounds of the duel between Rena and Raven, Aisha deduced Rena had somehow managed to disarm Raven with Erendil. Still, it seemed that the elf had returned the captain's blade back to him. _Why, though?_ The mage wondered. _Wouldn't it be easier to beat Raven while he's unarmed?_ Aisha had heard Rena saying something about fighting fairly to the captain when she tossed the sword to him. _Why bother to fight a... murderer... someone who's destroyed so many homes and taken countless lives... Why would anyone bother to fight that person "fairly"?_ Aisha closed her eyes and listened to the clashing of metal as Raven and Rena dueled. _I thought you were fighting for your life_, the girl muttered in her head accusingly._ Why aren't you using magic? Why aren't you distancing yourself from the captain and shooting arrows? Why did you return his sword back to him?_ The weapons continued to collide against each other. How long had the fight gone on? Thirty minutes? An hour? Aisha huffed loudly, becoming slightly irritated, when a hand came over her mouth. She whipped her head around to see Elsword placing a finger in front of his lips. He removed his hand from her mouth, but Aisha got the message: be quiet. Then, as silently as he could ever possibly manage, Elsword leaned in and breathed into Aisha's ear,

"She didn't want him to find us." He then moved away and leaned against the crates, leaving Aisha to think over what he said. _Rena... Didn't want Raven to find us?_ The girl pored over those words blankly for a moment, then realized the elf had endangered herself by giving Raven's sword back to him, merely to keep Aisha and Elsword hidden. When the blade was knocked from the captain's hand, it had skittered dangerously close to Elsword's spot on the ground. _I see... But still, why isn't she using magic? Why isn't she using her bow, either?_ Aisha sat against a crate, staring at the wall. _She's holding ba-_

"You won't win if you hold back," the captain's voice made Aisha shudder.

* * *

Rena blinked at those words. _Shoot, it seems he found out. _She retained a confident smile and in a pleasant voice, she asked,

"Who said I was holding back?" Raven narrowed his eyes, while still striking Rena's dagger with his blade.

"It's obvious you're not trying your best against me. I can tell you have alternate weapons you could use. Also, the way you're blocking my attacks... You could probably do better." The captain swung his sword, which Rena blocked again, and demanded, "Do you _really_ think I'd spare your life like that? If you intend on losing, you _will_ die."

"Oh? Since when did I say I intended to lose?" Rena twirled her dagger around, deflecting Raven's hits. "Besides, I'm not the only one holding back. I'd like to know: why aren't you trying to kill me?" Raven froze mid-swing, shocked.

"H-how'd you know-"

"I'm not stupid," the elf scoffed, taking the pause in the duel as an opportunity to flip her hair out of her face and to wipe drops of sweat off her brow. "Now, tell me, why aren't you trying to kill me? And... Who's this Seris you mentioned before?" The captain recomposed himself and scowled at Rena.

"None of your business." Rena sighed.

"What a shame~ It seems you don't want to do anything the easier way, _Raven_." Suddenly, the captain dropped his sword and choked, as if he had been punched in the gut. _Hmm?_ Rena stared at him in confusion. _What..._ "Raven, is there something wrong?" she inquired. Raven fell to his knees, looking like he was in pain. _Why is he..._ Rena sheathed her dagger and kicked Raven's sword to the side.

"Urggggh..." The captain held his hand to his head, clenched his teeth, and squeezed his eyes shut. Rena could see sparks of electricity visibly running up and down his nasod arm. _What's happening?_

* * *

Raven regretted the moment he considered sparing the elf's life. As soon as he thought that, a wave of pain shot through his body again, threatening to tear him apart. He couldn't think of anything; the pain he felt blotted out all emotions and thoughts, except one: _Make this stop, now._ The captain could just barely hear someone asking, "Raven, is there something wrong?" Who was that? The voice sounded like it belonged to Seris. _Wait... That isn't possible,_ Raven protested. _Seris is dead. She was murdered... That's why I'm still alive: to avenge her death. But, then... Who did the voice belong to?_ "Is it something I did?" Seris's voice asked worriedly.

"Nggggghh!" Raven vaguely realized the fact he was clutching his head tightly with one hand. Several moments passed. The pain did not subside. Finally, he wrenched his eyes open and forced himself to look around him. The scene he saw before him did not make sense.

He was in some confined area that resembled a cargo hold, alone except for a person who looked like...

"Seris?" Raven asked, very confused.

* * *

"Seris?" the captain asked, sounding befuddled. Rena stared cautiously at him, keeping her distance but not backing away. "Is that... you?" he croaked, his expression still pained. Sparks continued running up his metal arm. The elf found herself at a loss for words. What was she supposed to say? She didn't even know who the heck this Seris person was. Before she could think of her next course of actions, the captain questioned, "Where are we? What is... this place?" Rena blinked.

"Don't you know?" she asked. Raven shook his head, looking about as clueless as an amnesiac. The elf wondered - for just a moment - if this was some twisted joke that Raven was pulling on her. What if this was some trick? Still, he appeared to be innocent, for the moment at least. "This is..." Rena paused. Should she really answer the captain? She took in a deep breath, then said, "This is your ship, the Black Crow." At the name, Raven's eyes widened with vague recognition.

"The Black Crow isn't my ship," he faltered as a jolt of electricity coursed through his nasod arm. "I thought this ship was one of Velder's airships... Why am I on it?" The captain flinched when he finished saying that, and he shuddered violently for a minute, then looked up at Rena with cold eyes. "You aren't Seris," he spat out venomously.

"Yes, I think we've already established that fact," Rena answered nervously, stepping back now. _Talk about identity crisis? Yikes. Why did he change so quickly...?_ Then the elf realized: the nasod arm had to have something to do with this man's double personality. _I think... Raven needs to get off his ship_, Rena thought. _Away from his soldiers and some place he wouldn't be familiar with..._ As she decided on this, Raven jumped to his feet and glowered frostily at the elf.

"No one who intrudes this ship stays alive." He was about to attack, but then he seemed to notice that he didn't have his blade. He scanned the room, searching as quickly as he could for his sword; Rena had kicked it behind her, toward the hold's exit. While Raven had been distracted by the misplacement of his sword, he did not realize the elf had her bow out, a twig already nocked in the string. _This time, I won't hold back as much,_ Rena thought determinedly.

By the time Raven looked back to Rena, she had fired a twig infused with the magic of Erendil. Instead of hitting the captain in the head or piercing through his chest, the twig struck the captain's nasod arm, detonating the moment it made contact. Raven reacted too slowly; expressions of shock, anger, and disbelief passed on his face before his arm gave a shudder and he fell to the floor and passed out, cold. Rena stood still, then turned her gaze toward the crates.

"It's safe now," she announced.

Aisha poked her head out from behind one of them.

"Is he..."

"Not dead," Rena confirmed. "He's just unconscious."

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Elsword stepped out swiftly from the place he'd been hidden. "Kill him! End this now!" Rena frowned.

"I don't think so, Els. I feel like... He's not himself. I think we should keep him alive, then figure out what's going on with him." Even as she said this, the elf could see Elsword's temper visibly rising. He narrowed his eyes.

"What are you talking about?! He probably killed thousands of people. He _destroyed_ cities. You said so yourself. Why should we let him stay alive? He'll just be a threat to everyone, especially you, since he saw you on his ship."

"Elsword..." Rena sighed, not knowing herself why she wanted to keep this person alive. He had created destruction all around Elrios. He had Ruben's and Bethma's El shards in his possession. He had tried to kill Rena. Yet, why didn't she want to end his life now? _It's his arm,_ Rena reminded herself. _There's something wrong with that thing, and I'm going to find out what._ "It's not Raven's fault he's acting like this," the elf began. "I'm pretty sure, at least. I think his arm's controlling him somehow..."

"That's... Ridiculous," Aisha spoke. "How could some nasod thing control a human? Wouldn't the human at least know he or she was being controlled?" Rena shook her head.

"I don't think that's the case this time. Anyway, here's the plan."

The three huddled closer as Rena explained, in detail, what to do.

* * *

At the control room, a single pilot sat, staring at the wheel, gripping it so tight that his knuckled whitened. He felt strangely alone, though he was sure there were several other soldiers on the Black Crow, including the captain himself. But... Why did he still feel like he was the only one on the ship?

A dull bang resounded through the control room and the pilot slumped to the ground, eyes closed. Elsword eyed him suspiciously, then turned around to face Rena and Aisha.

"I think I knocked him out," he announced. Aisha visibly face-palmed herself, an action Rena couldn't do because she was holding onto Raven's unconscious form.

"Idiot!" Aisha growled. Elsword seemed to flinch at that remark. Apparently, the purple-headed mage hadn't given up calling him an idiot, quite yet. "_Why_ would you knock out the _pilot_?!" The boy scratched the back of his head, confused as to what he had done wrong this time.

"Rena said I could bonk any of the soldiers on the head with my sword. He was the only one we found on this ship, besides the ones already unconscious in the cargo hold. Why couldn't I attack him?" Aisha gritted her teeth, obviously frustrated.

"Elsword... Do you know anything about airships?"

"Nope," the boy answered immediately.

"Think," Aisha commanded. "Who controls the flight of an airship?"

"Uhh..." Elsword honestly had no idea. "The captain?"

"No... The_ pilot!_" Aisha hissed. "The guy you just knocked unconscious... _He _was the one flying this stupid ship!"

"Oh..." Elsword looked at the man he had just attacked. "But wait... That means..."

"None of us knows how to fly an airship," the mage huffed.

"We're going to crash," Rena said quietly.

"But where?!" Aisha demanded. The elf gestured outside the room, and the three rushed to get out, Rena dragging Raven with her.

On deck, Rena spotted land ahead of the ship, however...

"Why is it floating?" Elsword inquired, asking the same question Aisha had in her head.

"It must be... Altera," Rena breathed in amazement. Elsword stared at her blankly, but Aisha's eyes widened.

"You mean... The _floating island_, Altera?" Aisha asked incredulously. Rena nodded.

"That's the one."

"One problem," Elsword mumbled, "This ship is going to crash any minute, now."

Rena and Aisha both knew he was right. Only...

"So... What do we do know?" Aisha directed that question at Rena, since she knew the blockhead boy beside her probably didn't have any good plans up his sleeves.

"Aisha... This is kind of an emergency... Could you..." Rena didn't finish, but the mage knew what she was asking. This _was_ an emergency, and there was no way the three of them could simply jump off of the deck of the massive ship; that was practically suicide. Aisha swallowed hard.

"Raven too?" she asked, her palms beginning to sweat with anticipation for what she would have to do. What if she messed it up? Rena nodded. _Great. Three people... I've never done that before._ Aisha sighed. "Fine. But... I'll need to time it correctly, or I won't be able to get us all to the same spot safely."

"When would you have to... Do it?" Elsword asked anxiously, hoping it wouldn't be the moment the airship crashed.

"I need to get a good view of the land first," Aisha answered. "And I'll have to get us out of here right before this thing crashes."

"Well, then," Rena said. "It seems, you're in luck. Go get your view right now." The elf was right. Land was racing toward the ship at a dizzying speed. The ship descended in the air slowly, but with no one to control its flight, Rena felt her skin crawl simply from having to be on the ship longer.

Aisha scanned the quickly moving landscape, unable to grasp one specific point on the ground to teleport to. The ship was moving too fast. Suddenly, Aisha began to fear she wouldn't be able to get the four of them off of the Black Crow in time. They would be stuck here... Injured when the ship crashed, if not dead, and it would be all her fault.

"Aisha, cut that out," a voice snapped her out of her silent wallowing.

"Huh?" Aisha's head snapped up. Elsword had spoken to her.

"It's not gonna help, being all depressed like that. I can see how you feel, but... I'm sure you can get us all out of here." The boy's scarlet eyes burned with some sort of determination... Or was that hope? "There's something wrong, right? Is teleporting three people with you too much? Or..."

"No, it's not that. It's just... I don't know where it would be safe to bring us to. The ship's moving too fast. I can't concentrate on a specific location to teleport us to."

"Oh." Elsword scanned the land for a moment, then suggested, "How about over there?" Aisha followed his gaze to a mountain, not too far from the ship's location. As long as the ship maintained the same course, it would barely miss the mountain. Fortunately, the approaching mountain made it considerably easier for Aisha to search for a place to teleport the group.

"Perfect." A smile spread across the mage's face. "Thanks... Elsword." The boy grinned. "All right, I'm ready," Aisha announced. Rena, who had been searching for any other escape routes, in case the mage chickened out, dashed the distance between her and the other three on the deck. "Grab my hand," Aisha instructed. Rena and Elsword obeyed, and Rena had to hold Raven's hand with the same hand she used to hold Aisha's. It seemed awkward at first, but it was the only way to make sure Aisha could bring all four of them off of the ship, seeing as she only had two hands. The other soldiers and the pilot... Aisha didn't want to think about how things would end out for them.

Just before the ship passed the mountain, the mage, the elf, and the swordsman braced themselves.

"Abfugie," Aisha whispered, before disappearing from the ship with three people. Indeed, they were fleeing away from the fate the others on the airship would face soon, very soon.

* * *

**Aisha: Do I have a phobia of teleporting or something? o-O**

**SL: Eh... Sort of... You have a problem with using magic on other people, especially that many... Because you killed your cousin! :D (When did Aisha get out of the closet?)**

**Aisha: Again... What have you done.**

**SL: Imagination, mate. Anyway, messed up on Raven, woot!**

**Raven: e.e I don't remember having a split personality...**

**SL: Let's see... According to ElWiki... "... a Nasod figure appeared before him offered Raven a contract, for rebirth and power, he would conquer Velder and have revenge on the ones who caused his suffering, Raven agreed, then blacked out." And then something about having a prototype nasod arm...**

**Raven: So no split personality.**

**SL: YEP. But hey... I changed lots of things... Still, in the end, the Elgang shall reach the same goal as the one in the game! :D**

**Moving onto the reviews...**

**to KoraDora: Ah. I love anime, but... I'm always playing too many games to watch it qq ARE YOU A NW YET? Hmm... DW is the one Aisha class I don't have =/ I have a BtM, EM, and VP but I got too bored of BtM to turn it into a DW. Funny, though, because I got so excited when BtM came out ._. AND GA IS AWESOME. PURE AWESOMENESS X3 (VP is, too. Good choice! :D Though the job advancement... All I can say is... Good luck with those bladers... e.e)**

**to Spirify: Before I address anything... I just want to say that I love your profile picture X) Haku and Chihiro/Sen 4ever! Ahem... But, THANK YOU! *hugs* Tch.. It's not perfect.. It definitely can't compare to other things like... Shira's story.. Or RC's stories... Or Snow's... Maybe even Yin's. But still, thanks! XD And yesh. Cliff hangers are amazing to write. (but not to read)**

**to RubyCrucifix: Crucifix... I miss Crusade, but Crucifix works, too XD And, it's fine! Review whenever you want. I fall behind in reviewing other stories too... (like this week.) Raven will be awesome! Once that ugly nasod arm stops being a control freak. But... I'm planning BM for Raven (most likely) because I can't see him with Rena on any of his other jobs. *shrugs* They bother me e.e Also, not sure if I could get that many... I was surprised I even hit 50 o.o; EVIL HEADMASTERS ARE AWESOME, KAY?! (I just love Dumbledore... He's a nice headmaster... But also, in school I read a book called Down a Dark Hall... I think there was an evil headmaster in that one...) Sadly... I don't think Aisha will be able to Q_Q But in my other story, probably :D This one focuses more on King Nasod and w/e XP AND I AM STILL WAITING FOR YOUR STORY, MISSY! (takes opportunity to scold) I AM STALKING IT, WATCHING YOUR MOVES, AND-  
Elsword: She gets it.**

**to Keep Calm And Be Ninja: Can I just say that name is awesome? Yeah, that name is awesome. Also, thanks! Yep... Started this in middle school... It was the first thing I wrote that I didn't rage-quit in the middle of... Still, I'm going to go to high school soon, so I guess I'll have no excuse if this story's bad XP And really? I thought vocabulary was my weak point. I'm running out of words to use, and I feel like I'm just repeating myself everywhere. More breaks in the paragraphs? Hmm... That's strange... I actually thought my paragraphs were too short when I was writing this, so I was afraid of adding breaks in the middle of them XD But thanks for the suggestion. I'll keep that in mind for the future.**

**to SusumuSel: Oh, it's fine! Review whenever you want to XD AND YES. Dead Wally is a good Wally. Except... Wall-E... Dead Wall-E is not a good Wall-E. Yeah, I always wondered why they didn't include what happened to Wally in the game.. For Seris, Raven, and Rena... I just took that from other stories and the game. It said something in the game about Rena looking like Seris, so yeah o,o Aww! *insert heart here* Thank yew ;u; **

**to Vinney the RS: o-o; Umm... Thanks I guess? Funny though... I spend a week on a chapter and I spend two minutes or so on the intro and ending... =3=**

**SL: So now that those are all answered, LET ME TELL EVERYONE SOMETHING!**

**Rena and Eve: *in the middle of chess***

**Aisha and Elsword: *strangling each other***

**Chung: *cleaning Destroyer***

**Raven: *wiping blood off of sword***

**SL: AHEM! *whips out blowtorch* ATTENTION!**

**Everyone: *whips their heads up* O_O . . .**

**Rena: Y-yes?**

**SL: Thank you :D *puts away blowtorch* Now, I have a little announcement to make.**

**Aisha: Elsword has an IQ of 0?**

**Elsword: ...**

**SL: No...**

**Ara: Am I coming into the story?**

**SL: No.**

**Rena: I'm Seris in disguise?**

**SL: No.**

**Eve: The human race is-**

**SL: CAN YOU JUST STOP AND LET ME TELL YOU WHAT IT IS?! Don't make me take out the blowtorch.**

**Elgang: Yes, ma'am O-O**

**SL: Ahem, anyway... Next chapter... A certain nasod is coming! Yay!**

**Elsword: Apple?**

**Aisha: Are you really that stupid, Els?**

**SL: Not Apple... Eve =_=**

**Eve: So you have finally decided to put me in here.. Goodness.**

**SL: What. They reached Altera. I said I would put you in when they reached Altera. Isn't that enough? OAO**

**Eve: I suppose so. However, for the wait, I shall expect great things from your next chapter.**

**SL: o_o . . . Yeah, okay. Anyway, that was it XD YOU MAY GO TO YOUR RESPECTIVE... PLACES? Hf strangling each other. *looks pointedly at Elsword and Aisha***

**Ber bai! *flees from room***


	19. Chapter 19

**SL: Here I am with a ridiculously short chapter before I go on hiatus! :D**

**Aisha: ... Wut.**

**SL: Hi-a-tus. o.o**

**Aisha: o-o . . .**

**SL: Don't blame me. My parents are doing something ridiculously, and won't let me touch the computer for anything until two weeks after school starts =/ So yeah. Hiatus until the middle of September.**

**Aisha: =_=**

**SL: But I'll still be writing in a notebook o.o**

**Aisha: I'm mad.**

**SL: o-o Not my faul-**

**Aisha: I'M MAD THAT I'M NOT EVEN IN THIS CHAPTER!**

**SL: Oh.. I see. *was ignored earlier* o-o . . .**

**Aisha: WHY ARE YOU ONLY DEDICATING THIS CHAPTER TO ONE CHARACTER?!**

**SL: Well, that character's pretty important and-**

**Aisha: AND I'M NOT?**

**SL: =3= You're not the most important character in this.**

**Rena: I am! :D**

**SL: *kicks Rena from the room* Anyway... All six of you are equally important, but this chapter will focus mainly on Eve C:**

**Now, chapter begin!**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Waiting Alone**

Wartime. Chaos everywhere. The battle cries of humans and the rumbling of nasods echoed across the dark surface of Elrios. The ground everywhere was riddled with holes from cannonballs. Bodies littered the red, blood-stained dirt. Broken nasods cluttered the area, motionless, still. Moans of the dying cut through the air, the wails of those in pain reaching the ears of a certain little nasod. She looked out at the scene before her with a sad expression. Supposedly, nasods did not possess emotions, but even this particular one could not help but feel dread due to the war. _Too many lives have been taken_, she thought to herself. _Too many deaths. Too much destruction. How long shall this battle continue? How much more shall the nasod race suffer? Is this fight even worth-_

"Your highness." The deep, monotone voice of another robot interrupted the thoughts of the nasod queen. She flicked her gaze up, her golden eyes gleaming in the setting sun. Leviathan, one of the two royal guards of Altera, stood before her.

"Yes, Leviathan?" the queen prompted quietly. The nasod continued,

"Your highness-"

"Please, do not bother calling me 'your highness'," the queen interrupted. "I wish to be treated as an equal with you. Call me Eve, instead. Additionally, I do not deserve the title. I have been doing a poor job as the queen of Altera."

"Eve-" Leviathan hesitated to call his queen by her name. "It is not your fault Altera is falling. You were not the one to steal the El, nor were you the one to declare war on the humans. Do not blame our predicament on yourself." The guard was right. Almost a century ago, the stupid humans, who had created a treaty between them and the nasods, dared to steal the El from the Altera Core to use it for their own, selfish purposes. The El shard _was_ still somewhere on Altera island, but its exact location was unknown. At first, the disappearance of the El did not affect the nasods; they were still able to function properly. However, as years went by, a few of the least advanced nasods failed to work. They suddenly shuddered to a stop without warning, never to move again. More and more ended up like this, long before they were supposed to perish. The queen at the time, Q-Proto_00, could only come up with one explanation for the conflict: the decline of the El's power. Indeed, her suspicion was correct. The El in Altera was weakening. Wherever it was, the humans were abusing it, defiling its power and degrading it. Because the more advanced nasods had strong El energy processing units, they lasted longer than the others in their race. Still, Q-Proto_00 knew that eventually, all of her people would fall. Therefore, she declared war against the humans, in order to retrieve the dying El from them, and so began _The Hundred Year War_. In case anything should happen to her, Q-Proto_00 chose Eve as her successor. Barely a month ago, Q-Proto_00 had fallen in battle.

Eve touched the small, oval El-gem on her forehead. "It is there to ensure at least one of our kind will survive," Q-Proto_00 had told Eve when she grafted the gem to her forehead. "You must make sure you keep yourself alive," the now-dead queen had said sternly to Eve. "You will be the only one with the ability to recreate the nasod race, should the rest of us perish in this war." After Q-Proto_00 had said that, she had started to vigorously teach Eve the secrets of creating a nasod, and how to properly use the Nasod Foundry, which the humans had abandoned long ago.

"Eve," Leviathan pulled Eve out of her thoughts again. The queen blinked.

"I apologize," she said sadly. "I have been thinking of other matters while you have been trying to speak to me. Please forgive me." This time, Leviathan blinked.

"You do not need to apologize."

"Nevertheless, please continue what you were about to say," said Eve.

"Of course. Ignis has told me to inform you your project is finished," Leviathan's monotone voice droned. "He said to ask you to come and start it up."

"I see," the queen answered, her mind whirring with excitement at the same time. "Thank you for informing me. I must go and see to it, then." Leviathan bowed, then left her alone where she had been surveying the battle-scarred land.

Only after scanning the area around her for an hour did Eve begin to make her way toward the Altera Core, where she had been working on her project.  
She trusted its completion to Ignis, the other royal nasod guard. As the queen travelled across the plains of Altera, she pulled a transparent device in front of her – which consisted of a screen and a keyboard – and began to type commands carefully. With the device, the little queen of nasods did a status check on Leviathan's and Ignis's power barriers to make sure they were still intact. Eve did this every day, out of habit; she had no idea what she would do if the power barriers were destroyed and the two guards of Altera were assassinated. They were the only nasods, besides the deceased Q-Proto_00, who knew what to do in this time of chaos. A majority of the other advanced nasods had gone into hiding. They had stored themselves into little preservation units that would only activate when the El grew strong enough to power the energy converters the nasods had within them.

Eve was a rare case, having an El gem grafted right onto her forehead, so she could still function, no matter what happened to the El. Ignis and Leviathan merely had more sensitive energy converters; if the influence of the El was miles away, their converters would be able to pick it up.

Even though the nasod queen would be able to function on her own, Ignis had insisted for her to go into a preservation unit herself. The war between the nasods and humans had drained the land of its resources. Altera seemed almost impossible to inhabit now. Perhaps Eve _would _enter a preservation unit. She could wait in there until things got better, couldn't she? After all, the humans had such short life spans in comparison to Eve's race. Perhaps it would be better for the nasod race to go into a slumber._ After I start up my project, I shall enter a preservation unit myself, _Eve decided solemnly. She was well within the Altera core now, taking several elevators and passing dozens of security lasers she had set up earlier to protect her project. Soon, she arrived at the center of the core.

"Your highness." Ignis was already there to greet her, bowing respectfully.

"There is no need for that," Eve murmured, scanning the interior of the core. The inside was massive, so huge it couldn't even be called a room. Fluorescent lights on the ceiling about a hundred feet above Eve kept the inside of the core extremely well lit. There in the center of the Altera Core sat Eve's project.

He was huge, numerous times larger than Eve, taking up a majority of the space in the Core. A giant nasod, created by Eve's hands and finished by Ignis, would be Altera's last hope.

"Will he work?" Eve asked quietly, awestruck. Ignis droned,

"Your project will work immediately upon inputting the startup sequence."

"Will he be strong enough to defend himself?" the queen inquired. Ignis cocked his head to the side.

"Yes… Is there something you are planning?"

"I intend to go into a preservation unit, at the base of Altera's mountain," Eve said firmly. "Therefore, it is imperative that this new nasod can fight for himself." Ignis blinked, registering this.

"According to my data, he can protect himself from 99% of all attacks with every El energy storage device activated. However… If you are concerned about his safety, Leviathan and I can defend him." Eve felt herself smile faintly.

"Thank you, Ignis," she said to the guardian in front of her.

"Would you like to start him up now?" Ignis questioned, referring to the giant nasod. Eve gave a nod. Pulling her device in front of her, Eve inputted several commands.

"Start up sequence: King Nasod. Activate arms, head, waist…" The giant nasod did not have any legs or feet. Eve did not have enough materials to add them to him. Besides, he did not need them for the purpose he would serve. King Nasod, a project Eve had been working on for years, was linked directly to the Nasod Foundry. The purpose for his existence was to rebuild the nasod race, should all the nasods go extinct.

As Eve typed in the commands, the gigantic robot whirred to life, lifting his head and rolling his shoulders.

"I trust you to take care of him," Eve said to Ignis, before gliding out of the core. Right before exiting, however, she stopped and added, "Thank you, Ignis. For everything you have done."

* * *

Years passed since the little queen of nasods left her project and entered a preservation capsule, at the base of Altera's only mountain. She lay motionless in the capsule, her eyes closed, her breath still, waiting for the day she would awaken.

* * *

**SL: Heh... See what I did there with the title? =w= Anyway... Onto the lovely reviews before I clog this chapter up with the A/N o.o**

**to KoraDora: Oh. I see o.o Good luck getting there, if you haven't already XD CBS will be scary when she comes out =w= ... *runs for her life* DW bores me, no offense to DW users, but I prefer the other two Aishas... VP VP VP VP VP VP!11! She's just awesome X3 GA is amazing, imo, but a lot of people say she's boring because she just arrow spams all day, apparently? **

**to Vahlite: Thank you! XD Oh, no... I don't take offense to that. I think BW is amazing, but this can't compare to it =/ Still... Trying hard not to make this story too much like that one... XP And yeah... It's going to take a while to get the next chapter up o-o;**

**to KWolf909: Thanks X3 And probably. I'm trying to think of how it should develop. Aisha and Elsword are easy.. Rena and Raven are... Kind of different. But Rena and Raven forever!**

**to Rosamanelle: O-O That movie scared me when I was little.. All I remember was someone getting an axe or something and then someone else falling into the water... Anyway, welcome back! C: Really? I thought the fight between them was kind of dull... Rena was being too pro CX *slaps Eve for slapping Rosa* Time to run o-o Ignotum and Ran... Man, they just love to put a damper on everything... *shoves Ignotum down a hole and turns Ran into good Aren* LOL. We still don't know if she was successful or not... O_O Aww, that's so nice :'D It's not perfect... But thank you XD On a side note... *gives Rosa creepy stare* I am waiting for your next chapter OUO... Unless Elsa dies.. If she does, then never mind. I can wait DX**

**SL: I think that's it... *packs bags* Ber bai fanfiction. Ber bai Elsword. Bai computer XP *gets ready to face the hell of school***

**Aisha: DON'T FORGET TO PUT ME IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!1!11!**

**Elsword: And me o-o**

**Rena: Don't forget this elf, either.**

**Raven: I'd be too scared to find out what happened if I was in the next chapter...**

**SL: o.o Kay... **

***flees room***

**Commence hiatus mode :P**


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